


Jurassic World

by Claire_grady143



Category: Jurassic World Trilogy (Movies)
Genre: F/M, Jurassic World alternate story, Maisie Grady
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-10
Updated: 2019-04-10
Packaged: 2019-08-21 15:22:50
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 30
Words: 47,654
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16579100
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Claire_grady143/pseuds/Claire_grady143
Summary: Jurassic World, but if Claire and Owen were married and Maisie was their biological daughter. Follows closely to the movie. Claire's POV.





	1. Chapter 1

“What time are they coming?” Maisie asked while shoving her cereal spoon in her mouth. She was perched on the stool at the counter, her green eyes impatiently waiting for my answer. She bounced in her seat with excitement. Her cousins were coming to visit. This will be their first time visiting the park and she spent hours writing out an itinerary for their week. Owen always teases her for only being eight and just as organized as I am.

I leaned on my elbows resting on the counter in front of her. Taking a sip of my coffee, I sighed. “Not until after lunch.”

She didn’t try to hide the disappointment on her face. Her bottom lip jutted out and I couldn’t stifle my laugh. She looked like her father when she did that. 

She huffed and crossed her arms against her chest. “What am I supposed to do until then?”

I studied her closely as she heaved herself off the stool to put her empty bowl in the sink. She quickly spun on her heels. Her eyes already pleading with me. “Can I come to work with you?” 

I gripped my coffee mug in one hand and reached for her with the other, tucking a stray hair behind her ear. “Not today, Sweetheart. I have a lot to do today.” 

“Can I go with Dad?” There was the lip again. I smiled and poked it with my finger. 

“He’s got a busy day as well.” I answered. My heart sank from the disappointment on her face. 

It was Christmas break and she was already tired of being home. Living on Isla Nublar is a dream for most kids, but Maisie was born and raised here. She didn’t know anything else. Living among dinosaurs was second nature to her. She loved them just as much as Owen did. Even though she was homeschooled with some of the other kids on the Island, her free time was spent roaming the park with her nanny, or helping me run the control room. It wasn’t often Owen let her tag along with him to the raptor paddock, but those days she always looked forward to. 

She fiddled lazily with my skirt. “Do I have to stay here all morning with Beth?” She loved her nanny, and Beth was a huge help with mine and Owen’s busy schedules. Most kids would be content staying home, sleeping in and watching TV during their free time. Not our girl. Her happy place was helping run the park, or watching Owen work with the raptors. 

I sighed and leaned down to kiss the top of her head. “I have a meeting this morning, but I will have Beth bring you by my office for a little while when I’m done,” she jumped around the kitchen. I held up my hand to calm her down. “Listen, it will only be for a little while though. I have a meeting with Mr. Masrani. I’ll have Dad pick you up and you can have lunch in the park. Then Beth will take you to the docks to pick up Zach and Gray.” I studied her face and was satisfied at her reaction.

“Thanks Mommy!” She threw her arms around my waist. I took a large sip of my coffee. This was going to be a long day.

“Hey kiddo!” Owen rushed into the kitchen. Of course he was late again. He kissed me quickly before reaching for his coffee mug. Maisie giggled as she watched her father rush around us. 

“You’re picking me up at mom’s office for lunch!” Maisie hopped around the kitchen after him.

He turned towards me, shoving a muffin into his mouth “Am I?” He asked with his mouth full.

I nodded. 

Owen turned towards Maisie and clapped his hands together. “Lunch date then!”

Maisie jumped with excitement. 

The doorbell rang and Maisie ran for the door. “It’s Beth!” She called out as she ran through the house towards the door.

I turned to refill my coffee cup and Owen’s arms snaked around my waist. I leaned back against him smiling. We’ve been married for nine years, but this man still knew how to make me weak in the knees. 

His lips were at my ear, his voice sending chills down my spine. “I feel bad for the men at the meeting this morning. No one stands a chance against you in that outfit.” 

I glanced down at my white dress suite and nude heels. I didn’t feel any different than any other day. His hands moved to grip my waist and he turned me until I was facing him. My back pressed against the counter as he leaned into me. His lips brushed against mine. I could taste the muffin on his breath. 

“You’re…” I was struggling to find words. “You’re going to be late.” 

He pressed his lips to mine quickly and smiled. “I know the boss.” 

I rolled my eyes and shoved against his chest. “Go, and don’t forget to pick up Maisie at noon. Mr. Masrani is coming to look at the new dinosaur.”

Owen dropped his hands from my waist, letting them slap against his sides. This was a touchy subject between us. Owen didn’t support any new creations from the lab, but he respected that I needed to keep the tourists interests peaked. He knew it was part of my job. “I don’t want to hear it.” He grumbled and turned away from me. 

“I’m sorry,” I whispered.

Owen shrugged, his back towards me as he finished his coffee and placed his mug in the sink. “S’not your fault. You’re just following orders from the big man.” He walked back over to me and kissed me softly. “I’ll see you at noon.” He said and walked out of the kitchen. I followed him slowly. 

“Buy, Daddy!” Maisie jumped up from the couch where her and Beth settled in to read a book. She raced into her fathers open arms and he kissed the top of her head.

Beth stood up and nodded in his direction. “Good morning Mr. Grady.” Her long blond hair hung in loose curls around her shoulders. She’s been with us since Maisie was born. At that time she was fresh out of college and quickly found a job here on the island in the employee daycare. Maisie took an immediate attachment to her and she quickly became part of our little family. Now she works for us full time.

“Morning, Beth.” He smiled over Maisie’s head at her. “You ladies have fun.” He watched Maisie skip back over to her spot on the couch and waved at Beth before he reached for the door. 

“Be careful,” I said softly, stepping up behind him.

He reached for my hip with his free hand and pulled me into him. “Always,” he whispered against my lips. 

Once the door closed I turned my attention to Beth as I reached for my bag. “Maisie is going to have lunch with Owen today. You can bring her by my office…” I glanced down at my watched and groaned. I was late already. “eleven sound good?” 

“Of course. Good luck, Mrs. Grady.” Beth smiled up at me from the spot she reclaimed on the couch. 

I nodded, “Thank you.”

“Bye, Mama.” Maisie hugged my waist and I grabbed her arms, kneeling in front of her. 

“I want you to do one page of your workbook before you go anywhere today.” 

She rolled her green eyes at me, eyes that mirrored mine perfectly. “It’s vacation!” She whined. 

I stood up and clapped her on the shoulder. “You’ll be ahead of the group.” I shrugged, “it’s only one page.” 

Beth was already on it. She crossed the living room and found the book on the bookshelf with all of Maisie’s other school books. “Thank you, Beth.” I smiled at her before looking back down at Maisie. She was watching Beth through narrowed eyes. 

“Hey,” I poked her shoulder and held up one finger, “one page.”

“Oh, fine.” She grumbled and dragged her feet towards Beth. 

I stood for a moment, watching her take the book from Beth’s outstretched hand and walked towards the dining room. Beth smiled back at me and I waved before slipping out the door.


	2. Chapter 2

I pulled up to the back gate and punched in my employee code. The gate raised and I drove through. 

Pausing at the security gate I smiled as Officer Morales ducked his head to meet my eyes. “Good morning, Mrs. Grady.” He tipped his hat in my direction.

“Good morning, Officer Morales.” I answered and handed him my security badge to scan. 

The gates opened and he handed me back my badge. “Have a good day!”

“You, too!” I stuck my hand out the window to wave and drove on. 

I quickly found my parking spot, clearly marked: Operations Manager Parking Only.   
As I stepped out of my car the morning heat was heavy on my skin. I quickly checked myself in the reflection of my tinted windows and took a deep breath. This was going to be a long morning. 

I walked with my eyes focused in front of me through the hall. I was too late to stop and talk to anyone.

Zara stood up behind her desk and I waved her away. I didn’t have time for messages. 

With my office door in view, I picked up my pace. My hand reached for the door knob just as a shadow fell over me.

“Clair.” The voice was flat. unamused. 

I glanced quickly back at Zara. “I tried to warn you.” She shrugged. 

I took a deep breath and turned to see Hoskins, trying to make himself seem taller to tower over me.

“Shouldn’t you be at the raptor paddock?” My voice was just as flat as his. I didn’t know him very well, but I did know how much he pissed off Owen. So naturally I disliked him. 

Hoskins raised his arm up, resting his hand against my door and leaned against it. I almost laughed at the way he was trying to be intimidating. “Did you sign off on the reports from your husband?” 

I pushed open the door and he stumbled forward. I couldn’t hide my smug grin.

Owen knew Hoskins was pushing for a field test with the raptors. He knew they weren’t ready, so he would refuse to hand in his progress reports. With me being the one that has to sign off on them, I get to hear the complaining of his lack of enthusiasm. 

Hoskins plopped down on one of the chairs in front of my desk and I continued around to my filing cabinet. I could see Hoskins’ eyes on me from the reflection in the window. I shivered. Rather than bending over to search for the papers, I squatted down. Hoskins huffed in disapproval. 

“Here.” I said and tossed the file on my desk. He leaned forward, grabbed the file off my desk, and made himself comfortable again. 

I glanced at my watch. “If you don’t mind I have somewhere I have to be—“

Hoskins threw his hand in the air. “This is not from last week. This is what I asked for three weeks ago.” He growled and threw the papers back on my desk. 

I shrugged. “That is what he gave me. You have a problem with his tardiness, take it up with him. That’s not my problem. He works for you.” 

Everyone that works on this island knows that my work relationship with Owen is completely different than our private one. Before we even got married we swore to each other that our private lives would not interfere with our careers. Hoskins is the only one that ever tries to make me test the boundaries. InGen hired Owen to work with the raptors. I am the one that just oversees the program. 

He stood up and stepped around my desk.“He’s your husband. I want those reports.” 

I rolled my eyes and turned to walk to my door. “I don’t have time for this. He’s your employee. What he does on the clock has nothing to do with me. He’s your problem right now. Not mine.” I opened my door and stood aside. “Now if you don’t mind I have a meeting I’m late for.”

Hoskins walked slowly towards my door and I tapped my foot impatiently. He tipped his head in Zara’s direction and walked away. 

“Sorry,” she bit her bottom lip.

I shook my head. “I was in a rush. Don’t worry about it. You tried to warn me.” I threw her my most sincere smile and shut my office door, making sure it locked behind me. “I’ll be back. My phone is off limits for the next hour.” I knew I didn’t need to remind her, but I wanted to be sure I didn’t get any interruptions. 

“Of course. Good luck!” She called after me. I waved as I rounded the corner towards the elevators. 

I didn’t have time to go over my notes for the meeting, so I took the time in the elevator running through my notes in my mind. “Hal Osterly, vice president. Jim Drucker, bad hair. Erica Brand, deserves better. Hal, Jim, Erica, Hal, Jim, Erica and I am Claire.” I hummed to myself and checked my watch once more as the elevator came to a stop on the main floor. “Three minutes late.” I blamed Hoskins. The elevator doors opened and I went into business mode. The small group of investors were already there waiting for me. “Welcome to Jurassic World.” Their faces were eager and I fed off of that. 

I stepped off the elevator and reached my hand out to the first man. “Mr. Osterly, I presume.” 

He already looked impressed. “Yes, Mrs. Grady” He took my hand lightly and I gave a firm shake. Satisfied when his eyes widened in surprise. “You have quite the operation going on here.” He let go of my hand to look around. 

I smiled. “You haven’t seen anything yet, Mr. Osterly.” 

Turning my attention to the woman, her hand was already stretching out towards me. I took it quickly. “Thank you for coming Ms. Brand.” 

“My pleasure.” She smiled warmly. 

With my hand still stretched in front of me I turned to my last investor. He was young. His cheeks flushed red when I caught his eyes staring at my legs. Owen was right, I already had this one in the palm of my hand. “Mr.—“ He cut me off, taking my hand eagerly in his. 

“Jim.” His eyes locked on mine and I blinked, looking down at our hands. My grip loosened, but he still held on. 

“Shall we?” I gestured with my left hand since my right was still being held prisoner. Jim glanced at my ring and dropped my hand. I almost felt bad for the flash of disappointment in his eyes. 

“Yes, please.” Hal was impatient. 

“This way.” I took the lead and the others followed closely behind. I fell into the familiar step— walking at a steady pace, confident and spoke clearly. “While year over year, revenue continues to climb, operating costs are higher than ever.” We continued down the hallway congested with guests pressed up against the glass of the lab. I moved on as they followed closely behind, hanging on to every word. “Our shareholders have been patient, but let’s face it. No one is impressed by a dinosaur anymore. Twenty years ago, de-extinction was right up there with magic. Today’s kids look at a stegosaurus like an elephant from the city zoo.” I turned, taking us into the lab and continued my speech I’ve spoke a million times before. “But that doesn’t mean asset development is falling behind. Our DNA excavators discover a new species every year,” I turned to look at the group. “But consumers want them bigger, louder, more teeth.”   
Each one of them were intrigued. I had them right where I wanted them. without pausing I continued, “The good news? Our advances in gene splicing have opened up a whole new frontier.” I turned back around and continued our walk. My confidence bubbling over. “We’ve learned more from genetics in the past decade than a whole century of digging up bones.” 

I took a few more steps and paused at the research wall, complete with numbers and different variations to seal the investors interest. “So,” I continued as they studied the screens behind me. “when you said you want to sponsor an attraction, what exactly do you have in mind?” 

They glanced at each other and Hal spoke for the group. “We want to be thrilled.” He stated.

“Don’t we all,” I agreed as I turned to spin the DNA on the screen. This was the DNA of our newest species. “The Indominus Rex. Our first genetically modified hybrid.” 

Jim asked the first question. “How did you get two different kinds of dinosaurs to, you now…” He twisted his hands trying to sound professional. 

Dr. Wu, who had been listening from a distance took over in answering his question. “Indominus wasn’t bred. She was designed. She will be fifty feet long when fully grown,” he glance at Jim and smirked, “bigger than the t-rex.” 

I stepped forward taking over again. “Every time we’ve unveiled a new asset. attendance has spiked.” I made sure to look each one in the eyes, “Global news coverage, celebrity visitors, eyes of the world.”

Hal was sold. “When will she be ready?”

Dr. Wu glanced at him before smiling at me. He, too knew the deal was as good as done. “She already is,” he answered. 

“If you’ll follow me I can go ahead and get the paperwork started,” I squeezed Dr. Wu’s arm as I led the group back out of the lab. 

“Your team never disappoints, Mrs. Grady.” Hal took the lead of the group.

I winked at him, “We have the best.” 

He pulled out his phone and fell further behind me as we headed back towards the elevator. 

“Mommy!” My eyes shot up to see Maisie and Beth walking into the Innovations Center. She waved quickly before skipping over to the sand pile to join some other kids who were digging up bones. 

I waved quickly and pressed the button for the elevator. Thankfully Jim or Erica didn’t notice my little distraction. Hal was still busy on his phone. Jim and Erica were too intent on listening to him. 

They followed me into the elevator and I smiled to myself as the doors closed. I could pick out Maisie’s high pitched giggles over everyone in the room.

Hal hung up his phone just as we made it up to the main offices. We walked into a bigger conference room where packets were already laid out on the table in front of 3 chairs. Bless you, Zara I thought to myself. 

Each of them dove into the paperwork and I silently crossed the room for a glass of water. 

After what seemed like forever Hal stood up, tucking the paper into his briefcase. The others followed his motion. 

“Well, Mrs. Grady, I look forward to the big reveal.” He smiled and reached for my hand. 

I sighed, smiling back at him. “You won’t be disappointed, Mr. Osterly.” 

“I’m sure I won’t,” he agreed. “Do you mind if we take a look around the Innovations Center on our way out?” 

I shook my head, “Not at all. Any questions please don’t hesitate to call me.” 

I walked with them back to the elevator and waved as the door shut. That was done. I let out my breath and wondered how long I was holding it. 

“Need this?” Zara asked, holding up a cup of coffee. 

“Yes,” I sighed and took it as I unlocked my office door.

“Your sister called twice. I let it go to your voicemail.” Zara informed me.

“Thanks, I’ll call her back.” I answered as I walked into my office. 

Taking a long sip of my coffee before dropping into my chair. I kicked my heels off, thankful for the moment of silence. I leaned back in my chair until it tilted back and closed my eyes, glad the first part of my morning was over.

The intercom on my desk buzzed and I groaned. Placing my cup on the desk, I reached for the button. “Yes, Zara?”

“You have a tiny person here who seems to be your double.” Zara’s voice was amused and I could here Maisie giggling both behind the door and over the intercom. 

“I don’t know of this being you are referring to.” I played along.

“Mom!” Maisie laughed. 

“I’m coming,” I giggled and got up to open the door. 

The door barely creaked open and Maisie shoved through, throwing her arms around my waist. 

“How was your morning?” I asked, running my fingers through her hair. 

“Good! I finished my page and Beth graded it. I put it on the counter in the kitchen.” Maisie answered as she wondered over to my chair and sat down, spinning herself around. 

“Thank you, Beth. I’ll have Owen call you when they are done with lunch. Bring the boys back to the house so they can drop their luggage off. Then you can bring them here and I’ll meet you downstairs.” 

She nodded. “No problem,” she waved at Maisie. “Have a good lunch with your dad.” 

“I will,” Maisie answered, still spinning herself in circles. She stopped and stumbled dizzily towards Beth. “See you in a little while.” She hugged her and tumbled backwards, landing on her bottom. “I’m so dizzy!” She threw her head back laughing.

I rolled my eyes, smiling down at her before turning my attention back at Beth. “Have a nice break.” 

“I will,” she waived and turned to leave. 

When I turned back to Maisie she was laying on the floor. “Mom, your ceiling is spinning.” 

“You’re a nut,” I cooed and bent down to tickle her belly peeking out from where her favorite butterfly shirt rode up over her jean shorts. 

She squealed with delight.


	3. Chapter 3

“Can I go to the big window?” Maisie asked once she calmed down from her laughing fit. 

The large window overlooking the park was directly across from my office. I nodded, holding the door open for her. She skipped across the room and jumped on the couch sitting directly under the window. 

I propped my office door open so I could see her and sat down at my desk. My fingers drummed across the keyboard as I answered emails.

Zara knocked lightly on my opened door. She had a pile of papers in her hand. 

“Thanks, Zara,” I sighed, pointing at the corner of my desk, “you can just sit them here. I’ll file them away.” 

“Sure thing,” She crossed the room and sat them down. She leaned against the edge of my desk and peeked at my computer. “Hear anything from Verizon?” 

I laughed leaning back in my chair. “They’re probably still downstairs. They haven’t even left the island yet.” 

She shrugged as she walked back to her desk, “Never know.” 

I chewed the end of my pen as I thought about her words. Dropping the pen I turned back to my computer and refreshed my email. Nothing. 

Taking a break from my emails and phone calls, I decided to get a start on the files Zara placed on my desk. 

“Now that’s the best damn view on this island.” Owen’s voice caused me to jump. 

I stood straight from my bent over position, placing files in the bottom drawer. Spinning around I saw Owen. His arms crossed over his chest and leaning against the doorframe. 

“Hi,” my cheeks flushed red. 

He smiled and shrugged away from the doorframe. “Hi,” he answered. 

We met in the center of my office and be leaned down to kiss me.

“Where’s our daughter? I do believe we have a date.” 

I pointed behind him. “At her window.”

Owen turned to see her hands and face glued to the glass as she peered down at the guests below. 

“Well,” he kicked the door closed with his foot and backed me up until I hit my desk. “In that case.” He grumbled, bringing his lips to the spot just under my ear where he knew I’d be putty in his hands. 

“Owen,” I panted. My hands lazily pushed against his chest. I lost all strength in my body. 

He ignored my attempt to push him away. Instead he clasped his hands around my hips and lifted me onto my desk. I squeezed his hips between my knees and threw my arms over his shoulder. 

“This is breaking every rule we ever set.” I fought to catch my breath. 

“It’s your fault,” he mumbled against my neck. “Shouldn’t have bent over like that.” His hands moves up my body and with a flick of his finger the two top buttons on my blouse came undone. Before I could protest his lips claimed mine. 

I wracked my brain to find a way to stop him because I was quickly losing the desire to stop. “Glad I decided to squat down and hunt for your files when Hoskins was in here earlier. I was going to bend over, but this,” I waved my hand between us, “wouldn’t have been as fun with him.” 

“Come on, woman!” Owen complained as he backed away from me and slumped down in one of the chairs. 

I giggled, sliding off the desk and leaned down to kiss him. “I had to. You know how I feel about sex at work.” 

He smiled as I straightened my shirt out and ran my fingers through my hair. “Didn’t stop you that one time,” he winked.

I blushed. “That—“ I jumped away from his outstretched hand. “That was a moment of weakness.” I walked over to open the door. “Plus it was late at night and no one else was here.” 

Owen shrugged out of the chair and placed his hand on my back, letting it fall until he reached my butt, giving it a light squeeze and I yelped. He let out a loud laugh. “Come on Mais. I’m hungry.” 

Maisie spun around on the couch and jumped off, “kay!” 

She took his outstretched hand and he glanced back at me. “Want me to bring you back something?” 

I shook my head. “No, I’ll order a sandwich.” 

He nodded and tugged at Maisie’s arm. “I want pizza.”

“Oh,” Maisie’s eyes lit up, “me, too!” 

“Oh, Owen,” I couldn’t believe I almost forgot to tell him the plans for the afternoon. “When you’re done with lunch just call Beth and you can meet up with her before heading back to the raptor paddock.”

Owen beamed down at Maisie. “You going to play tour guide for your cousins?” 

Maisie jumped with excitement. “Yep!” She knew the park like the back of her hand. Probably even better than most of the employees walking around. 

“Hey, Mais,” I took her hand from Owen and bent down so her eyes were level with mine, “you stay right with Beth. She’s going to have three of you to look after. Help her keep those boys in line.” 

She gave a hard nod, happy I gave her a job to do. “I will.”

I knew it was a long shot. What sixteen and thirteen year old boy was going to listen to an eight year old girl? Still it would keep her busy.

“Promise?” I asked, still holding her eyes with mine.

Her hand shot up in a fist and she stuck her pinky out to me. A gesture shared between us that proved the promise one of us were about to make could not be broken. 

I smiled and hooked my pinky with hers.

“Ok,” I sighed straightening up and nodded towards the exit. “Go, have fun.”

Maisie clasped both her tiny hands around one of Owen’s and pulled with all her might. He let her lead him away. I watched them until they disappeared into the elevator. 

Zara cleared her throat behind me. I turned to give her my attention. “The customer service desk has your envelope for the kids. I just got off the phone with them. Want me to go get them?” She asked, placing her lunch container on her desk and stood up.   
I quickly shook my head, “No, you eat your lunch. I’ll go grab them. I have a few free minutes. Plus I have to go order my sandwich.”

Zara was relieved as she sat back down and went back to her lunch. I double checked my office door, knowing I always keep it locked from the outside whether I’m in it or not, but I always do a double check before walking away. 

“Hi, Patty.” I smiled leaning against the over-crowded desk. The frazzled woman looked up from her computer and smiled at me. 

“Oh, Clair,” she spun in a full circle, trying to find the envelope of meal and merchandise vouchers I requested. “I have your—“

“Excuse me!” She was cut off by a panicked mother shoving in beside me and another woman. She bounced a screaming toddler on her hip. 

Patty looked at me with wide eyes. As if it would be rude to ignore me and take care of the frantic woman beside me. 

I smiled reassuringly. 

Patty sighed in relief. “Yes, ma’am?” 

“My daughter, she lost her stuffed dinosaur. She’s been dragging it everywhere since we got it at one of the gift shops.” The poor mother patted her daughters back as she hoped for good news from Patty. “It must have fallen from her stroller. I re-traced our steps and it’s gone. It was the long neck dinosaur.”

“Let me call lost and found.” Patty smiled warmly at the mother and quickly picked up the phone. 

“Is she three?” I asked the mother. She glanced up at me and I could see the pain in her eyes. 

“Yes,” she said and went back to patting her daughter on the back.

“My daughter has a stuffed raptor she’s had since she was a baby. We thought we lost it once and that was the longest hour of my life.” I tried my best to keep the mother calm while Patty spoke quickly into the phone. 

The mother turned towards me and took in my attire. I knew she caught on that I must be an employee here. “These kids and their lovies,” she forced a laugh. 

“Right?” I smiled and reached up to pat the crying girl on the back. “Hey there, sweetie.”

She lifted her head from her mother’s shoulder to look at me. Her thumb went to her mouth as she hiccuped. 

I smiled, twisted my palms up and shrugged. “What happened?”

Her bottom lip quivered. “Bucky,” she whimpered. 

“She named it Bucky because she couldn’t call it by its real name.” The mother informed me.

I nodded, my eyes back to the little girl. “The brachiosaurus stuffed animal?”

Her little face lit up. “Bucky!” 

“I’m sorry,” Patty destroyed all hope for the poor mother. “Nothing has been turned in.” 

Thankfully the little girl didn’t understand.

“Oh, great.” The mother grumbled. 

“Which store did you get it from?” I asked and the mother turned back towards me. 

“The one down by the water.” She answered, her eyebrows furrowed in confusion. 

I reached over the desk to grab the pad of paper and pen. “Go back to the store,” I spoke as I wrote my name, information and merchandise request on the paper. “Tell them I sent you. And little miss here can have her pick of any size ‘Bucky’ she wants.” I ripped the paper off the pad and held it out for the mother to take. 

Her mouth hung open in a perfect O and her eyes open wide. She shook her head slowly. “I couldn’t—“   
“Trust me,” I cut her off. “It’s fine. I wrote my number down on the piece of paper if the store clerk has any questions.” 

She looked down at the paper, “Thank you, Mrs—“

“Claire,” I smiled and patted the little girl on the back once more. “You go pick out a new Bucky, ok?” 

“Bucky!” The little girl cheered. Her leftover tears sparkled as she smiled. 

“Leave your information here and I’ll make sure lost and found gets it. We will notify you if Bucky shows up.” I pushed the pad and paper over to the mother.

She sat her daughter on the counter beside her as she quickly jotted down her information. 

“I don’t think I could thank you enough.” She said as she picked her daughter back up. 

I took the paper from her and handed it to Patty. 

I shook my head. “Don’t mention it. My baby is eight and would still have a hissy fit if she lost her raptor.” 

The mother smiled and her shoulders finally relaxed. 

I waved at the little girl as she smiled at me over her mothers shoulder. She waved back. 

“You’re something else,” Patty shook her head in awe. 

I shrugged, “Just a mother helping a mother out.” 

“Found your envelope.” She slid it across the counter towards me. 

“Perfect! Thank you, Patty!” I grabbed it and walked back up to my office. The boys should be getting off the boat soon. 

Guess there was no time for lunch today.


	4. Chapter 4

“Your conference call is on hold.” Zara informed me when I walked back into the office. 

“Right,” I huffed and unlocked my door. 

Tossing the envelope on my desk, I reached for my phone and got to business. 

Thankfully the call was shorter than I thought. I felt proud I was able to schedule another round of investors to come once our next species was ready to be unveiled.

My phone buzzed on my desk and I reached for it. “Hello?” 

“Hi Claire this is Tony at the lost and found. Someone turned in that stuffed animal you were helping Patty with.” 

“Oh great!”

Zara buzzed on the intercom. I pulled the phone away from my ear to answer her. “Yes?” 

“The kids are here.” She informed me.

“On my way.” I grabbed the envelope and headed for the elevator. 

“Sorry, Tony, I’m here. Did you inform that mother?” 

“Yes, she offered to return the one her daughter picked out since they were identical.” 

I opened my mouth to protest, but he continued on.

“We informed her that you wouldn’t think it was necessary and to consider it a gift.” 

I smiled against the phone and nodded. “Exactly what I would have said. Now she has a backup.”

“Glad we are on the same page. We had the dinosaur sent to their room.”

My eyes scanned the lobby as I descended the stairs. Gray was the first one of the kids I spotted over by Mr. DNA. “Gray? Is that you?” 

“You have a meeting?” Tony asked.

“Ok,” I agreed to having the stuffed animal sent to their room, so they didn’t have to trek back to the lost and found to pick up it. “Yeah, no I’m going to have to go. My nephews are here.” 

“Oh, wonderful I hope they have a great time.” 

I hung up just as I reached the bottom step. 

“Aunt Claire!” Gray called out as he ran towards me.

I knew it was a while since I’ve seen them, being on the island I lose track of time with my sister back in the States. This is the first time they are visiting the park, but the second time they were on the island. After Maisie was born Karen and Scott made the trip without the boys. They were young and the park was fairly new, so she didn’t want to bring them here. She still can’t wrap her head around the fact that we decided to raise Maisie on the island. They brought the boys back here for Maisie’s first birthday, but she wouldn’t let them visit the park. 

“Hi!” I cooed as he dove into my arms. “Oh,” I was taken aback by his affection. “Oh, my gosh, you’re so sweet.” 

I glanced up at the man that used to be my tiny nephew. “Whoa, Zack. Last time I saw you, you were…” I lowered my hand to be level with my hip. “You’ve grown so much.”

“It’s been seven years.” He didn’t look amused. I chalked it up to teenage hormones.   
There was someone missing in my small lineup of children. I looked around to see Maisie attached to Beth’s side. 

“Hey, baby.” I spoke softly as I walked up to them. 

“She’s being shy.” Beth whispered. 

“Oh,” I whispered back and knelt down in front of Maisie. “You ok?”

She let go of Beth to wrap her arms around my neck. Her mouth pressed against my ear. “They’re big.” 

I couldn’t help but giggle and she leaned back, narrowing her eyes at me. “I’m sorry,” I wiped away my smile and kissed her cheek. “Gray is only three years older than you. you’ll have fun.”

She searched my eyes for any sign of a lie. “Promise?” 

I smiled and held up my pinky, “Promise.” 

Her face was serious for a moment longer as she looked at my hand. I watched the smile slowly creep across her face and she hooked her pinky with mine. 

“We’ve got two promises going today. Think we can handle that many?” I asked as I stood up. 

Maisie stuck her chin in the air and tapped it with her finger, “We got this.” She concluded. 

I laughed and tucked her hair behind her ears. 

“Can we go now?” Gray hopped around, catching Maisie’s attention and she laughed at him. 

“Here,” I handed the envelope to Beth, “this is for food and merchandise if they want to get anything.” 

“You’re not coming with us?” Gray stopped jumping around.

“Oh,” I knew that look. It was the same disappointed look that Maisie gives when I’ve said something she didn’t want to hear. “I wish I could, but—“ I didn’t want to use the excuse that I had to work. I decided to change the subject. “Tomorrow I can take you into the control room. Show you behind the scenes. That’s cool,” I glanced up at Maisie. “right, Mais?” 

“Yeah it’s really neat back there. You can see everything going on in the park.”

Neither of the boys seemed interested and Maisie shrugged. Glad it didn’t bother her. 

My phone rang in my hand and I quickly glanced back up at Beth. “Ok, I have to go. Take good care of them.” 

She took Maisie’s hand and nodded. 

I waved as I watched them go. Maisie turned to look at me just as my phone rang again and I turned away from her to head back up the stairs. “Hello?”

“Claire?” It was Vivian from the control room.

“Yeah, I’m here. I’m on my way up.” 

“Ok, Mr. Masrani’s chopper will be here in twenty minutes.”

I looked down at my watch. “Right on time.” I sighed and hurried towards the control room. I paused at the drink station and smiled at Amanda behind the counter. She waved and quickly filled a coffee cup for me. She handed it over just as I reached the counter. 

“You’re a lifesaver!” I smiled and took the cup from her. 

She giggled. “Bye, Clair.” She called after me as I hurried away. 

I scanned my badge and waited for the door to open up to the control room.

“What’s the live count?” I asked Vivian.

“twenty-two thousand, two sixteen.” She answered.

“Any incidents?” I studied the screens in front of me. Satisfied that all looked normal. 

“Yeah, six kids in the lost and found,” Lawery answered this time. “Uh, twenty-eight down with heat stroke—“ He turned slightly in his chair and I caught sight of his shirt.   
“Where did you get that?” I snapped. 

He followed my gaze to his shirt. “Oh, this? I got it on Ebay. It’s pretty amazing. I got it for one hundred fifty dollars. A good condition one goes for three hun—“

“Didn’t it occur to you that’s in poor taste?” I knew it was just a shirt, but it was a shirt that was probably snatched up from the rubble when they came in to clean up the park. Then sold for profit.

“Sure,” he shifted uncomfortably, “yeah, no it did. I understand, people died It was terrible. But that that first park was legit!” 

I sighed as he mumbled on. “Ok, let’s not wear it again.” I cut him off. Not wanting to get in an argument with him. 

Vivian was quick to change the subject. “Did you close the deal?”

“Looks like it,” I responded. “Verizon Wireless presents the Indominus Rex.” 

“Ugh…” Lawery grumbled. “That is so terrible.” I tried not to laugh at him. He reminded me of Owen. Always has something witty to say. Luckily I had more than enough practice dealing that that kind of personality. “Why not just go the distance, Claire, and let the corporations name the dinosaurs. They’ve got all the ball parks. Why stop there?”

I wasn’t listening to him. My attention was on the blinking red outline around a portion of the map. “Why are the west planes closed?”

“Another packy roaming outside her zone, but she’s fully sedated and ready for relocation.” Vivian double checked her screen to make sure she was correct.

Lawery continues to mumble to himself.

My blood boiled. This was not supposed to happen. “Security said those invisible fences were a no fail. This is the second time this month.” 

“Well, the packys short out their implants when they butt heads” Vivian replied. 

“How much longer until they get her out of there?” I was so aggravated at the fact I had to deal with this again. They could potentially be a hazard if a guest came face to face with one wondering outside her fence. 

“She just got five milligrams of carfentanil,” Vivian chuckled. 

“Yes, so she’s very stoned, so why don’t we show a little sympathy,” Lawery was pushing my last nerve. “I mean you do understand these are actual animals, right?” 

And there went my last nerve. “Clean up your work space, its chaotic.” 

“I like to think of it as a living system,” he marveled over his unorganized mess. “just enough stability to keep it from collapsing into anarchy.” He explains himself as he reaches up to fix one of the dinosaurs. 

Knowing how clumsy he is I reached for the garbage can with my foot and pushed it over just as his cup fell into it.


	5. Chapter 5

I made my way to the helicopter pad to meet Mr. Masrani. The helicopter landed and I was signaled that it was safe to board.   
  
“Mr. Masroni, you’re flying?” I pointed out as I took my seat.   
  
He shrugged. “I got my license.”   
  
“Two more,” the pilot instructor pointed out.  
  
“Two more days.” Mr. Masrani corrected.   
  
I gave a polite smile and quickly buckled my seatbelt.   
  
“How’s my little junior park ranger doing?” He asked as the helicopter lifted off the ground.   
  
I gasped, waiting for my stomach to catch up from being left on the ground. “She’s fine.” I panted.   
  
I heard him laugh. “She’s going to run this park one day.” He continued his conversation as if he didn’t have our lives on the line.   
  
“Mhmm,” I agreed. Not sure if I was going to throw up for not.   
  
“So how’s my park doing?” He asked. The helicopter finally leveled out and I worked on getting my organs back in their regular place.   
  
I took a deep breath and reached for my notes. “Great,” I started. “We are up 2.5% over last year. A bit lower than our initial projection.”  
  
Mr. Masrani cut me off. “No, no. How’s it doing? Are the guests having fun? Are the animals enjoying life?”   
  
I stared at the back of his head. “Well,” I started again, “guest satisfaction is steady in the low 90’s.” I paused not sure how to answer the second part of his question. “We don’t have a way to measure the animals’ emotional experience.”   
  
“Sure you do,” he disagreed, “You can see it in their eyes, right?”  
  
I smiled, that would have been something Maisie and Owen would have pointed out. “Of course,” I agreed.   
  
“Now, show me my new dinosaur,” he grabbed the controls and sped up.  
I tensed up, squeezing my eyes shut. I wanted to beg him not to kill me up here.  
   
“You look tense, Claire.” He pointed out as I held on for my life.   
  
Really? You think? I wanted to ask him if he had gone mad, but I decided it wouldn’t sound too professional. “Maybe you should just, focus on the controls.” I stuttered.   
  
Mr. Masrani let go of the controls with one hand gesturing back at me. “The key to a happy life is to accept you are never actually in control.”   
  
“Bird!” I called out and squeezed my eyes shut.  
   
“I got it… got it.” He gained control of the helicopter again and relaxed back in his seat.   
“You should spend a day at the beach. Get some sun.” He advised and glanced over his shoulder at me. “I’m sure that little girl of yours would enjoy that.”  
   
I thought about it for a moment. Maisie frequently went to the beach. But it was either with Owen or Beth. I couldn’t actually remember the last time we went as a family. I shook my head. “Right,” I changed the subject, “so marketing thought we could offset some of the costs by—“  
  
“Enough about costs,” he interrupted. “John Hammond entrusted me with his dying wish and never did he mention costs. “‘Spare no expense’” he spoke the famous words John Hammond spoke often.   
  
“I appreciate that,” I pressed on, “but the reality of running a theme park requires—“  
  
“Don’t forget why we built this place, Claire. Jurassic World exists to remind us just how very small we are. You can’t put a price on that. Now please,” he gripped the controls and pulled up. “We’re flying!”   
  
“Yes, that’s wonderful,” I groan, feeling my stomach flop out of place again. I was suddenly glad I didn’t have a chance to eat lunch.   
  
The helicopter swayed as it landed, hitting the ground harder than I would have liked.   
I stepped off uneasily and the pilot instructor dove for the bushes. “Is he ok? I asked Mr. Masrani before turning towards the pilot. “You ok?”   
  
“He’s just being dramatic,” Mr. Masrani answered absentmindedly. His attention was on the enclosure. “You’re still building?”   
  
“Well, we planned to open in May, but asset containment insisted we build the walls up higher,” I informed him, leading the way towards the observation deck. “It’s bigger than expected.”   
  
“That’s a good sign,” He breathed. He was nervous.  
   
“We hit a few speed bumps early on,” I explained, “It began to anticipate where the food was coming from. One of the handlers nearly lost an arm, and the others threatened to quit because I couldn’t guarantee their safety.”   
  
He studied the glass. “She’s intelligent then?”   
  
I shrugged, “For a dinosaur.”   
  
“And that?” He asked, pointing to a spot on the window.  
  
I tried to keep my voice steady. “It tried to break the glass.”   
  
He paused for a while before he added, “I like her spirit.”   
  
The trees swayed in the enclosure and her face came into view. I stepped back instinctively.   
   
“It’s white,” Mr. Masrani pointed out. “You never said it was white.”  
  
“Think it’ll scare the kids?” I knew the answer. There’s no way I was going to let Maisie see this thing until she is older.   
  
“The kids?” He questioned. “This will give the parents nightmares.”   
  
I raised an eyebrow, “Is that a bad thing?”   
  
He breathed in, “It’s fantastic.”   
  
The indominus stalked by the glass. “Can she see us?” He asked nervously.  
   
“They said she can sense thermal radiation. Like snakes.”   
  
He looked around the indominus and whispered, “I thought you said there were two of them.”   
  
I took a deep breath. “There was a sibling incase this one didn’t survive infancy.”  
   
“Where’s the sibling?” He asked.  
  
“She ate it,” I gave a slight smile and he shifted uncomfortably.   
  
His eyes focused on the walls around the enclosure. “The paddock is safe then?” He questioned.   
  
“We have the best structural engineers in the world.” I answered.  
   
“That’s what Hammond said.” He mumbled under his breath.   
  
I rolled my eyes.   
  
“I’d like you to have your husband come look at the paddock.”   
  
I whipped my head around to look at him. “Why?” I gasped. I didn’t want him anywhere near the Indominus and I knew he didn’t want anything to do with it either.   
  
“His raptors often try to escape. They are smart,” he explained, “he has to be smarter.”   
I snorted. “He thinks he’s smarter.”   
  
“I want you to bring him in. Let him inspect the paddock. Maybe he sees something we can’t.”  
  
“I assure you,” I pressed, “these walls are safe.”  
   
“You will have Owen check just to be sure.” His statement was final. There was no getting him out of this. I dreaded having to have this conversation with Owen.   
  
“Yes, sir.” I sighed. Defeated.   
  
“Great, let’s get out of here.” He glanced at the cracked glass once more before leading the way out the door.   
  
The helicopter ride back to the office was silent. I was angry at Mr. Masrani for making me drag Owen into this. Owen has always supported my career, but once the lab started messing around with the DNA to create species that naturally shouldn’t exist, he lost all respect for the lab.   
  
_“It’s not natural, Claire! You don’t see a half cat, half turtle walking around do you?”_ Was his response when I came home and told him the lab created a new species.   
  
_“I’m not saying I agree with it either, but Mr. Masrani requested it. Therefore I have no choice but to sign off on the report.”_   
  
_“Do what you have to do, but this is the last I want to hear about that thing!”_ He yelled and walked out the front door heading to the garage to work on his motorcycle. The only place he ever went after an argument.   
  
The helicopter landed, puling me out of my train of thought. I thanked Mr. Masrani once again and made my way back to my office.  
   
“Claire Grady to the control room. Claire Grady, control room.” The walls echoed the overhead announcement.   
  
“What now?” I grumbled as I turned back towards the control room.   
  
“I’m so sorry…” Vivian was on her feet as soon as I walked in.  
  
“What?” I asked. Looking from her face to the others staring wide eyed at me.   
  
“Owen,” She whispered.   
  
My eyes shot up to the monitor and I ran to stand closer. He was standing face to face with all four raptors.   
  
“WHAT IS HE DOING?” I screamed. I didn’t even try to keep professional.   
“Someone fell in the paddock. He went in after him.” Lawery answered calmly.   
  
“Of course he did!” I spat. “Dammit, Owen!” I leaned over Vivian who had sat back down and grabbed her phone, pushing the extension for ACU at the paddock. “Get him out of there!” I demanded. From what I saw on the screen, they had aim on the raptors, but did nothing to help him.   
  
I saw one of them reach for his walkie to answer me. “Mrs. Grady, we are doing all we can.”  
   
With Owen’s hands stretched towards the raptors he glanced quickly at the ACU officer that spoke to me. “Get her out of the control room!” Everyone in the room heard him over the security system’s speakers.   
  
The only noise in the room were the rustling of bodies as they turned to look at me. A walkie went off behind me. It belonged to one of the security guards. ACU was relaying Owen’s message.   
  
“Ma’am,” his eyes were sincere as he reached for me.   
  
I jumped back and away from him. “You touch me and you will never step foot on this island again.” I pointed at Owen on the screen, “He has no authority here. You get those men to get my husband out of the paddock.” My eyes narrowed when he didn’t budge. “That’s an order, officer!”   
  
“Close the gate,” I heard Owen speak to Barry.  
  
The tears I’ve been fighting to keep in spilled over. My hands clapped over my mouth to stifle my scream as he dove for the closing gate, the raptors missing him by mere inches.   
  
I waited until Barry helped him stand up to let out the breath I was holding. He turned to where the security camera was and waved at me. “I’m going to kill him,” I growled as I made my way to the door.   
  
“She’s  en route.” I heard the security guard inform ACU.   
  
“Shit.” Owen grumbled once he was informed. I could hear some of the guys in the room laughing at Owen’s response as I stormed out of the room.


	6. Chapter 6

I dove into my Mercedes and drove as fast as could towards the raptor paddock. A picture of Owen and Maisie flashed on my phone as Owen called me. I didn’t answer. I was not having a conversation with him over the phone. 

My tires dug into the gravel as I slammed on the brakes and threw the car in park. 

Owen immediately started walking over towards me. His eyes cautious. 

“You stupid, arrogant, man!” I yelled, closing the space between us. My lips covered his as if it was my only lifeline. 

Hesitant at first, Owen slowly brought it hands to my hips and pulled me harder into him. I didn’t care we were working. I didn’t care about the audience we were probably attracting. 

Owen broke the kiss as we struggled to catch our breath. “Thought you were mad at me.” 

I brought my hands to his chest and shoved hard. “I’m furious!” I growled. 

Owen chuckled. “That’s a funny way to show it.” 

“I can’t believe you did that!” 

“You weren’t supposed to see. I told you those security cameras were a bad idea.” 

I paced back and forth in front of him. “You have a daughter, Owen.” I paused to look at him. “What was I supposed to say to her when those animals tore you apart?” The tears in my eyes threatened to spill over. I blinked them away. I was too angry to cry.

Owen saw the pain and fear in my eyes and reached for me as he took a step in my direction.

I backed away. “Don’t,” I demanded. “Don’t try and make me feel better.” 

He stopped moving but his arms stayed outstretched towards me. “I’m fine, Claire. Not a scratch on me.” 

“You’re lucky.” I answered. 

“Luck isn’t part of it.” Hoskins interrupted. “Owen knows he has complete control over them.” He shrugged and clapped Owen on the back, “At least you can control some of the women in your life.” He snorted. 

I took a step towards him, “Excuse me?” 

“Ok…” Owen grabbed my shoulders and pulled me back. “Let’s take a walk.” 

I shook his hands off my shoulders and glared at Hoskins for a moment longer before pushing passed him. 

We walked in silence, Owen staying a pace behind me. He was giving me space he knew I needed. 

I looked down at the ground. “You could have died,” I spoke softly, “I could have watched you die.” 

He reached forward and his fingers laced with mine. I squeezed tightly. He took one large step so we were walking side by side. I couldn’t hide the sob that crept up my throat.

Owen reached across me with his free hand to stop me from walking. “Hey, hey,” he whispered. “I’m fine.” 

I stepped back when he tried to pull me into him, but his arms were stronger. I closed my eyes against his chest and breathed in deeply. My arms slowly rose from my side to snake around his waist. “I hate you for doing that to me.” 

He dropped his head to my hair and gave a light chuckle before pressing his lips to the top of my head. “I love you, too.” 

I smiled against his chest. Though he was holding me, my heart ached for him. I needed to be closer. My breathing deepened and Owen picked up on it right away. As if reading my mind, he brought his hands to either side of my face and pressed his lips hungrily against mine. 

My fingers worked clumsily at the buttons on his shirt at the same time he effortlessly removed my blouse. His hands roamed over my lavender tank top and I moaned into his mouth. 

I let my hands roam inside his open shirt, knowing we were outside I didn’t remove it.   
“This isn’t a good idea,” I whispered against his lips. 

“Then stop me.” He let his hands slide down my thigh’s and gripped the hem of my skirt and slid his hands back up, this time touching skin. 

I shivered. 

He hooked both pointer fingers into the waistband of my underwear and in one swift move they were gone. I lost all desire to stop him. 

“White dress,” I warned when he lowered us to the grass.   
He rolled us so I was straddling his hips. “Better?” He asked with his famous crooked smile. 

I nodded and brought my lips back to his. I was done talking. 

I dipped my head into the crook of his neck and laughed. “That was a first.” I pointed out and stood to straighten myself out. 

Owen raised an eyebrow. “Guess I should almost get eaten more often.” He zippered his jeans back up.

I rolled my eyes. “I’ll kill you myself.” 

Owen laughed as he got to his feet. 

“Now I need something from you.” I started. “I need you to come to the Indominus paddock.” 

Owen shook his head. “No,” he narrowed his eyes, confused. “Why?” 

I took a deep breath. “Mr. Masrani wants you to evaluate the paddock for vulnerabilities.” I answered. 

“Why me?” He started walking back towards the raptor paddock and I followed, combing my fingers through my hair. 

“I guess he thinks since you’re able to control the raptors…” I paused when he stopped walking and I smacked into his back. As I stumbled backwards he spun to look at me. 

“It’s all about control with you. I don’t control the raptors. It’s a relationship. Based on mutual respect.” He shrugged and moved a stray piece of hair out of my face. “You know, like us.” 

I snorted. “Glad you base our relationship off the raptors.” 

He turned to continue walking. “You know what I mean.” 

“Can you just come with me, please. I’m not asking you to be friends with the thing. I just need you to check on the structure.” 

“I guess,” he grumbled as we made it back to the paddock. “Barry I’ll be right back.” He called out, getting in the drivers seat of the car. 

Barry waved and went back to what he was doing. 

“That way.” I pointed out when he pulled onto the dirt road. My phone rang and I was almost afraid to look at it. 

“Your sister,” Owen said placing the phone on my lap.

“She’s been trying to call me all day.” I informed him and hit the talk button on my phone. “Hey, Karen.” 

Karen’s voice was flat. “Hi, Claire. How’s it going?” 

“Yeah,” I tried to sound chipper. “Everything’s great. The kids are having fun…”

“Really?” She interrupted. She knew I was lying. “Cause I just got off the phone with Zach and he said you weren’t even with them.” 

I sighed heavily, “Yeah, look, today turned out to be a really bad day for me. Owen and I have to do one more thing and we will go meet up with them. They are in great hands. They’re with Maisie’s nanny. She’s great with kids.” 

I heard Karen start to cry. 

“Hey,” I soothed. “Wait, are you crying?” 

“This was supposed to be a fun, family weekend, Claire. You guys haven’t seen the boys in forever and I know how Zach is when they are by themselves and he can be so mean.” 

I shifted uncomfortably in my seat. “Ok, I’m sorry. Tomorrow, I’m going to spend the entire day with them. I’m going to take off work and I won’t leave their side. I promise.” 

“Well,” she sighed, “a promise tomorrow is worth a lot less than trying today.”

“Ugh,” I groaned. “You’re using mom’s lines now?” 

“They work, right?” 

I shrugged. “I guess… Bye mom.” I joked.

“Bye,” she whispered. 

I dropped my phone in the center console. “Great,” I grumbled. 

“She’ll get over it.” He said and reached over to squeeze my leg reassuringly. “I’m sure the boys are having a great time. I bet Maisie is yapping their ears off with facts about the dinosaurs.” 

I reached for my phone again. “Maybe I should call and check on them.” 

“Do it after we get this over with.” Owen said as we pulled up to the paddock. “That’s huge,” he breathed, looking up. 

I nodded, taking the lead up the stairs to the viewing room. “We’ve been pre-booking tickets for months now.” I informed him. 

“I don’t want to know details, Claire.” 

“The park needs a new attraction every couple of years to reinvigorate the public’s interest. Kind of like the space program. Corporate felt that genetic modification would up the wow factor.” 

“They’re dinosaurs, wow enough.” Owen answered. “And besides, I really don’t care.” 

“Fine,” I huffed and opened the door. He followed me in and looked around.

“What do you think?” I asked after I watched him walk along the glass, studying the paddock. 

“Has she been in here all her life?” He asked, not looking at me. 

“Yes.”

“Never seen anything outside these walls?”

“No,” I chuckled. “We can’t exactly walk it.”

Owen ignored my joke. “And you feed it with that?” He asked as the crane dropped a piece of meat to call her over.

“Is there a problem?” I wondered.

“Animals raised in captivity aren’t always the most functional.” He stated.

I shook my head, confused. “But your raptors are raised in captivity.”

Owen nodded. “With siblings,” he pointed out, “they develop social skills. And I imprint on them when they’re born. There’s trust. The only positive relationship this animal has is with that crane. At lease she knows it means food.”

“So she needs friends?” I questioned. Confused at where he was trying to get at. “Schedule play dates.” Owen glared at me. I continued without hesitating. “That sort of thing?” 

“Not sure that’s a good idea,” he humored me.

I smiled and turned my attention back to the glass, tapping on it impatiently. “Where is it?” 

“Is it in the basement? Is there a downstairs? Maybe it’s in the rec room,” It was Owen’s turn to make jokes. 

“We were just here,” I mumbled, ignoring him.

I walked over to check the computer and it flashed red. No thermal radiation detected.

Owen reached for me instinctively. 

“That doesn’t make sense.” The care taker said as he glanced at his computer. “These doors haven’t been open in weeks.” 

“What is this thing made of?” Owen whispered, taking a step towards the glass. 

“The basic genome is a t-rex and the rest is… classified.” I didn’t know what the rest was. 

Owen turned slowly, eyes wide. “You made a new dinosaur, but you don’t even know what it’s made of?” 

“The lab delivers us—“ I defended, but Owen’s hand shot up to silence me. 

“Forget it.” He turned back to the glass. “Were those claw marks always there?” 

I stepped beside him. My hand reaching for his, “Do you think it… Oh, God.” I gasped, backing away from the glass. 

Owen’s eyes were wide with panic as he watched me. 

I moved towards the door. “She has an implant in her back. I can track her from the control room.” I opened the door and realized Owen wasn’t behind me. 

“Go,” he nodded.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The next two chapters slightly differ from the movie. It's still the same scenes, just a little bit different. Enjoy!

I ran as fast as I could back to the car, glancing over my shoulder and listening for the Indominus to show herself. Slamming the door shut, I looked around once more before slamming my foot down on the gas pedal. The tires spun, kicking up gravel and I raced towards the control room. My hands shook as I reached for the phone.

“Hello?” Lawery asked. 

“Lawery, get me coordinates on the Indominus,” I demanded. 

“Ok,” he paused, confused. “Yeah, I’m doing it right now.” He informed me. “What’s going on?” He asked. 

“Just get me the coordinates!” I yelled.

“Did it get out?” He asked again.

“Lawery!” I yelled.

“Wait, what the hell? It’s in the cage.” He told me. 

I was seconds from the control room. “That’s impossible!” I yelled. “I was just there.” 

“Claire, I’m telling you she’s in the cage.” He assured me. “Wait a sec,” he went on.

My heart sank into my stomach.

“There’s people in the cage!” 

“Who?” I screamed into the phone. 

No one answered me. 

“Get them out,” I demanded, “now!” I didn’t need them to tell me who was in the cage. I knew from their silence. Owen put himself in danger for the second time today. 

“Paddock eleven this is control,” Vivian spoke, “you need to evacuate the containment area.” 

“No one is answering.” Lawery informed me.

“Tell them again!” I instructed. 

“Paddock eleven? Paddock eleven do you copy?” Vivian tried again.

“What’s the problem?” I heard someone answer her. It wasn’t Owen’s voice. 

“It’s in the cage! It’s in there with you!” Vivian yelled. 

There was commotion on the other end as everyone spoke at once. I knew Owen was once again on the screen in front of them. This time I was blind to what was going on. I didn’t know if he was alive or dead. 

“Close the gate.” I heard Mr. Masrani speak. 

“We can’t just leave him in there.” Lawery stated. 

“Who is in there? Somebody talk to me! What is going on?” I yelled, desperate for anyone to tell me where Owen was. I didn’t care if it was good or bad news. I just needed to know. 

By the time I parked and ran to the control room all damage was done. No one moved or spoke when I entered the room. I glanced at the screens. They showed utter destruction to the Indominus paddock. I forced myself to put my job first. 

“Everyone remain calm.” I spoke slowly, trying not to give away my panic. “The implant will shock it if it gets too close to the perimeter fence.” 

“It’s moving really fast,” Lawery pointed out. 

“This is control,” Vivian spoke into her ear piece, “Put out a park wide alert—“

“Hang up that damn phone!” Mr. Masrani cut her off, stepping around me. 

“Sorry, I’m getting new information,” she corrected, “everything’s fine.”

“Let asset containment capture it quietly,” Mr. Masrani explained, “the very existence of this park is predicted on our ability to handle incidents like this.”

Lawery snorted. “You should put that on the brochure… eventually one of these things will eat somebody.”

“That paddock is four miles from the closest attraction. ACU can handle this,” I informed him, “No one else is going to get—“

“Eaten?” Lawery finished. 

I took a deep breath readying myself for the answer before I even asked the question.   
“Where is Owen,” I asked Vivian.

She nodded not looking up at me, her voice just barely above a whisper. “He was in the cage. He got out before the doors closed, but I lost track of him after that.” 

I reached out and squeezed her shoulder reassuringly. “Thank you,” I whispered around the lump I’m my throat. 

I heard the elevator open behind me, spinning on my heels when I heard Owen’s voice. He shoved passed the security guard, his eyes wild with fury as he stormed over to me. 

My relief of having him in front of me turned to fear. I have never in the entire nine years I’ve known Owen have seen him this mad. 

“What the hell happened out there?” He yelled, his eyes burning through me. 

“Calm down,” I spoke softly, but he did the opposite. 

He took another hard step towards me and I backed away instinctively. “There are thermal cameras all over that paddock. She did not just disappear!” 

I tore my eyes from his and shrugged. “It must have been some technical malfunction.”

Owen leaned towards me, pointing to the screen. “Were you not watching? She marked up that wall as a distraction. She wanted us to think she escaped.” 

“Owen, we are talking about an animal here.” I tried reasoning with him. 

“A highly intelligent animal!” He yelled, his face so close to mine our noses almost touching. There was nothing but fire in his eyes. I almost couldn’t recognize the face in front of me. 

“40 meters to the beacon,” Vivian interrupted us. 

I shook my head, taking another step back from Owen. Everyone in the room disappeared from my mind as soon as Owen walked into the room. My focus slowly went back to the screen. I could feel the vibrations of Owen’s rage in the air between us. 

“You’re going after her with non-lethals?” Owen asked Mr. Masrani. I sighed glad his anger wasn’t pointed at me anymore. 

I knew he blamed me for his. I let this monster exist. I blamed myself as well. 

“We have twenty-six million dollars invested in this asset, we can’t just kill it,” Mr. Masrani informed him.

“Three hundred meters,” Vivian pointed out. 

“These men are going to die,” Owen said as he focused on the screen. He turned slowly towards me. “Call this mission off right now.” He demanded. 

“They’re right on top of it,” Vivian said. 

Owen’s eyes narrowed when I didn’t speak. “Call it off right now!” He yelled so loud his voice echoed off the walls around us. 

I swallowed hard. “You are not in control here.” I loved Owen, I loved him with every fiber of my being, but any decision I made right now would depend heavily on the safety of the guests here in the park. 

His eyes widened and he took a step away from me. Shock flashed across his face. I have never used my authority to overrule him, but in this instant he needed to realize this was my job. This was under my control. 

He turned his back to me as he focused on the screen. 

I quickly wiped away the stray tear the escaped my eye and straightened up. 

“What is that?” Mr. Masrani asked, pointing at the bloody object in the hands of one of the ACU officers.

“That’s her tracking device,” Owen pointed out. She clawed it out.” He didn’t seem surprised.

“How would it know to do that?” I asked. 

“She remembered where they put it in,” Owen answered without looking back at me.   
I stared at his back, wanting to reach out to him. To apologize. 

“It can camouflage!” The scream from the screen caused me to jump and I brought my attention back up to the monitors. 

Within seconds the Indominus ripped through the entire ACU team. One by one their heart monitors flatlined. I reached for Owen’s hand and he snapped it out of my grasp. Still refusing to look at me, he kept his back towards me and stepped away. 

I let my shoulders slump forward. 

Owen slowly turned towards me, his face emotionless. “Evacuate the island.”  
I shook my head not meeting his eyes, “We’d never reopen.” I whispered.

I closed my eyes when I heard the disappointment in his voice. “You made a genetically modified hybrid, raised it in captivity. She is seeing all this for the first time. She does not even know what she is. She will kill everything that moves.”

Mr. Masrani spoke for me. “Do you think the animal is contemplating its own existence?” 

“She’s finding out where she fits on the food chain and I don’t think you want her to figure that out.” He stepped away from me, his focus on Mr. Masrani. “Asset Containment can use live ammunition in an emergency situation. You have a M134 in your armory, put it on a chopper and smoke this thing!” His military senses were on high and had to step in again. We are not in a war. 

“There are families here. I’m not going to turn this place into some kind of war zone!”

He clapped his hands to his temples and fisted his hair. “You already have!” 

This was not a place for him. There was no reasoning with him. 

I took a deep breath knowing what I was about to say will effect us personally. “If you’re not going to help,” I spoke not meeting his eyes. “then there’s no reason for you to be here.” 

He didn’t say anything to me. I didn’t dare look up at him. I jumped as he took his rage out on Lawery’s dinosaur collection. I peeked up at his back as he walked towards the elevator. “I would have a word with your people in the lab. That thing out there… that’s no dinosaur.” He stepped into the elevator and met my eyes just as the doors shut.   
With Owen gone, my confidence returned. “I’m going to close everything north of the resort.”

Vivian snapped into action, “This is a phase one—real world, bring everyone in.” 

The security screen for the main lobby caught my attention. There was a familiar face I focused on. It was the mother I saw downstairs with the little girl who lost her dinosaur. Sure enough the little girl came into view holding two identical stuffed animals as she skipped around her mother. 

“Maisie!” I gasped, fumbling with my phone. 

There were four missed calls from Beth. I slammed my finger down on her name and the line rang once before her frantic voice filled my ear. 

“I can’t find them!” She cried into the phone.

“Who?” I asked, my heart jumping into my throat. 

“Any of them! We were at the petting zoo… they’re gone!” 

I hung up, turning back to the security screen. I searched different parts of the park trying to locate Maisie or the boys, but they didn’t show their faces anywhere. Owen’s face caught my eye as he spoke to a man downstairs. I ran for the door.


	8. Chapter 8

I searched for him as soon as I entered the lobby. 

“Claire?” He walked up behind me. The anger in his eyes faded when he saw the tears spilling from mine. “What is it?” 

“Beth… Maisie… I don’t…” I stuttered and Owen clasped his hands over my arms to move us away from the crowd. 

“Calm down,” his voice was still tense. I knew he was still mad at me, but our daughter came first over anything. 

He watched me closely as I took a deep breath. “I just spoke to Beth. I wanted her to bring the kids back here. They aren’t with her, Owen! She can’t find them!” I choked on the lump in my throat and Owen threw his arms over my shoulders, pulling me into him.

“Maisie knows the park. There’s security everywhere. They’re safe. I’ll go find them.” 

“I’m so sorry,” I whispered against his shirt. 

“Not right now,” he sighed heavily. “We will discuss this later.” He let his arms drop from my shoulders and stepped away from me, almost as if he remembered he was mad at me.

“I’m coming with you,” I demanded, taking a step to follow him. 

“No,” he growled. 

I narrowed my eyes. “I’m coming with you.” I repeated. 

Owen snorted. “Using your rank to overrule me again, Mrs. Grady?” His voice was cold and sarcastic. He spoke my name as if he was an employee addressing me. 

“I’m using my rank as your wife,” I hissed. I pointed back towards the control room, “What happened back there was on a professional level. We were working.” I paused and took his hand. “Right now I am nothing more than your wife, demanding that we search for our child and nephews together.” 

Owen’s shoulders were still tense, but he sighed in defeat. He knew I was right. There were times we walked a fine line with our work relationship and our personal one, but in the end we both knew Maisie trumped everything.

“Call Zach,” he said, pointing to my phone in my hand. 

“Right,” I was so panicked that Maisie was missing, I didn’t even think to call him. 

The line on his side was fuzzy as he answered. “Hi, Claire.”

“Zach!” I yelled angrily into the phone. I was suddenly mad at him. He should have known better to break away from Beth. “Where are you?”

“Hello?” His voice barely audible with the static. “I can’t really here you. We are in the big hamster ball.” 

I could hear Maisie close to him. I couldn’t make out what she was saying, but I felt a little better knowing they were all together and safe. 

“Ok, perfect. Stay there!” I yelled before hanging up the phone. I ran back towards the control room with Owen close behind me. 

“Lawery,” I was calling for him before the elevator doors even opened. “are there any gyrospheres left in the valley?”

“No, they’re all accounted for. That’s my job.” He said as he searched his monitor again. “No, wait. There’s one still in the valley.” 

“Is that them?” Owen asked behind me. 

“Yes,” I answered as I reached for Lawery’s phone. “Security this is control, I need a search and rescue in the valley.” 

“It’s going to have to wait, we are getting swamped down here.” They responded.

I grabbed for the earpiece.

“No, no that’s my daughter and nephews! You will make this your top priority!” I screamed into the phone. 

“Just do it, man.” Lawery warned.

Owen’s hand squeezed my shoulder.

“I’m sorry, Mrs. Grady we will get to them as soon as we can.” 

“Let’s go,” Owen tugged hard on my shoulder. 

I dropped the phone and let him guide me away. 

“She broke her promise,” I pointed out as Owen drove out to the valley. I looked down at my hand, pinching my right pinky with my left hand. I could still feel Maisie’s tiny finger wrapped around mine. Though the pinky promise gesture was between Maisie and I, Owen knew how much it meant to me. Never has a promise between Maisie and I been broken. 

Owen reached over and laid his hand over both mine. “I’m sure she has an explanation.” 

I shook my head, looking out my window. “There’s no explanation. She knows there’s no breaking that kind of promise.” 

“She’s a kid,” Owen defended. “She was probably just following Zach and Gray.” 

“I don’t care! She knows better, Owen.” 

He let the conversation end as he pulled into the valley. I picked up the phone to call Zach again and see where they were. As the phone rang I searched through the window of the car. 

“Do you see them?” I asked Owen who was driving slow as he looked around. 

“Not yet.” 

“He’s not answering,” I said, throwing the phone to the floor. 

We pulled up a little more when the injured dinosaur came into view. 

“Stay here,” Owen said as he grabbed a gun from the back seat and slid quietly out of the car. 

He walked towards the bronchiosaurus and I found myself quietly following him. 

We stayed with her until she took her last breath. 

I stood up slowly looking around for the gyrosphere. I needed those kids at my side. The indominus was way too close to them. My heart raced. 

We walked further into the valley when we saw more dead animals. “It didn’t eat them,” I whispered. 

“She’s killing for sport.” 

“I want my daughter,” I whimpered. 

Owen nodded and led the way back to the car. 

We drove silently through the valley until we found a break in the perimeter fence.   
“I bet they went through there.” Owen said and slowly drove the car through the opening. 

“How do you know?” 

“Teenage boy.” He stated. 

I unhooked my seatbelt so I could slide to the edge of my seat. Resting my arms on the dashboard I squinted through the windshield. 

“Hey!” Owen said quickly. I turned to look at him. His eyes were wide as he looked at me. “Can you check over there?” He asked as he pointed out my window. 

It was too late. He was trying to distract me from spotting the twisted remains of a gyrosphere. 

He barely had the car in park before stumbling out towards the pile of twisted metal and glass. 

“No, no, no” I sobbed, reaching down to pick up the crumbled remains of Zach’s cell phone. 

“Hey,” Owen said softly, kneeling down in the mud. “They escaped.” 

I placed my hand on his shoulder as I leaned over to see two sets of footprints leading away from the sphere. 

“There’s only two,” I gasped! 

“Where’s Maisie!” I yelled, panic ripping through me. 

Owen stood quickly, tears threatening his own eyes. “There’s no way they would leave her.” 

“I want my baby, Owen!” I sobbed. 

“I know, so do I.” He swallowed hard and started in the directed Zach and Gray’s footprints led. 

We walked a short distance before coming to the cliffs edge. The footprints stopped.   
“Oh, my God, they jumped!” I gasped. 

“Look.” Owen pointed down at a small footprint. He gently ran his fingers over it. “Maisie,” he whispered. “Zach must have carried her to this point.” 

He stood up scanning the water below. 

“Zach! Gray! Maisie!” I yelled as loud as I could. 

Owen’s hand clapped over my mouth. 

“Hey!” I mumbled against his hand. 

“Shh…” He warned. 

“I’m not one of your damn animals!” I reminded him. 

“Listen, Claire, in the park you’re the big boss. Out here, you listen to me. This is my turf.”

Fine. I could handle that. I deserved that. “So what do you suggest we do?”

“You get back, I will find them.”

“No! We will find them.” 

“What part of ‘you listen to me’ don’t you understand, Clair?” 

“I’m not leaving you! Twice today I almost lost you.” His eyes softened as he took in my entire body trembling. 

“You’ll last five minutes in there,” he pointed to the jungle in front of us. “Less in those ridiculous shoes.”

I narrowed my eyes at him and reached for my belt. His eyes followed my hands as I unhooked it and let it fall at my feet. He stayed focused on my hands as I ripped open my blouse and tied it in a knot at my stomach. I caught his eyes widen and he cleared his throat. 

“What is that supposed to mean?” He asked, his voice a little higher than I knew he wanted it to be.

“Means I’m ready to go.” 

He nodded slowly, his eyes scanning my body. “Let’s get one thing straight—“ 

I threw my hand up to cut him off. “You’re turf.” 

“Thank you!” He sighed. 

I gave a hard nod and walked back towards the jungle. Owen took step in front of me.


	9. Chapter 9: Maisie's Chapter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is in Maisie's POV!

“What do you guys want to see first?” Beth asked as we stepped out into the main strip of the park. 

Gray skipped ahead of us, “The rides! No, t-rex! Wait, there’s a petting zoo?”

I giggled at Beth’s side. “He’s pretty funny,” I pointed out. 

“He’s a baby,” Zach grumbled. 

I leaned into Beth’s side, squeezing her hand. I didn’t like Zach very much. He was unhappy and grumpy. 

Beth looked down at me and winked. “Where do you want to take them?” She asked me, ignoring Zach’s mumbling. 

I shrugged, “I like the petting zoo. We haven’t seen the new babies yet.” Just a few days ago a new set of triceratops siblings graduated from the nursery to the petting zoo. I got to be with mom when they released them into the zoo area, but I haven’t been down to see them since. 

“Oh, right,” Beth remembered. “Let’s go see the girls then.” 

“You can actually pet a dinosaur?” Gray asked, stepping beside me as we walked. I smiled up at him and nodded. “You can even ride on them, too.” 

“Come on!” Gray ran ahead when the petting zoo sign came in view. I went to run with him, but stopped to look up at Beth. 

She laughed dropping my hand, “Go! Stay in sight.” 

“Ok!” I called out as I ran after Gray. 

“No, this way.” I took his hand when he stepped at the back of the line. I led him over to the exit gate and waved at Mr. Williams. 

“Maisie! the girls have been waiting to see you again.” He opened the gate and let us in. 

“You can just do that?” Gray asked as I wondered through the zoo towards one of the smaller triceratops. 

“Do what?” I asked.

“Get on anything without waiting in line?” 

I nodded. “My mom runs the park, remember?” I giggled. 

“You’re my favorite cousin!” Gray said excitedly as he knelt down beside me.   
“Aren’t I your only cousin?” I asked. 

He shrugged “Doesn’t matter.” 

Once the baby triceratops wondered over to take food from another little girl we wondered back to the fence where Beth stood watching us. Zach sat on the bench beside her staring down at his phone. 

“Can we feed them?” I asked Beth. 

“There’s no rush.” She answered. “You guys have fun.”

I turned to run back over to Mr. Williams with Gray close behind me. He gave me two tokens for the feeders. I gave one to Gray and we filled our hands with grains. 

“It’s so slimy!” Gray laughed feeling one of the baby’s tongue on his hands.   
I laughed as another did the same for me. 

“Mais, honey I have to take this phone call.” Beth called over the fence at me. 

“Don’t move, I know.” I waved as she turned her back. 

“Hey, guys!” Zach called over to us. We walked towards the fence where he stood. “Come on. Let’s have some fun.” He opened the exit gate to let us out. 

“We are having fun.” I told him, watching his face twist with his smile. 

“Follow me!” He grabbed our hands leading us away from the petting zoo. 

“I can’t!” I tried pulling my hand out of his, but he was stronger. “I promised my mom I’d stay with Beth. We aren’t allowed to go off on our own.”

“Live a little, kid. You run this place.” Zach told me. 

“My mom does, and she’ll be really mad if we don’t stay with Beth.” He continued to pull Gray and I along with him. 

“I’m old enough. I don’t need a babysitter.” 

“T-rex!” Gray called out as the announcement overhead informed the guests of her next feeding. 

“Oh, no,” I gasped. “My dad doesn’t want me going to see the carnivores without him.” 

“Come on and have some fun. Look,” Zach knelt down in front of me. “You stay with me and it’s as good as staying with your nanny. We’re family. Family trusts each other.”

I studied his face for a moment. Maybe he was right. Maybe as long as I stayed with him and didn’t wonder off on my own it was still ok. I nodded and smiled at him. 

“Great!” He exclaimed and held his hand out once more. I took it willingly and led the way to the express entrance of the t-rex viewing area.

Mrs. Weiss was on duty today and she smiled as I approached her. “Where’s dad?” She asked, looking at Zach holding my hand. 

“These are my cousins. They are visiting for the week. I get to show them around.”

“Oh how wonderful! Rexy is just about to eat.” She let us through. 

Gray and I weaseled our way to the front of the crowd of people, our faces pressed up against the glass. I closed my eyes as she approached. I could never stand to watch her eat, but I did like hearing everyone’s reactions. Normally I stand towards the back, using my dad’s hand to cover my eyes. He then would tease me for wanting to come in here, but was too scared to actually watch the show.

When Rexy was finished eating we walked back out as Gray gushed over how gross and cool it was. I agreed, pretending I never closed my eyes. 

“Can we see that?” Gray asked, pointing to the mosasaurus lagoon. 

“Yes,” Zach said and we were walking over towards it. 

Once again I had to explain why I didn’t have my dad with me before entering into the stadium to take our seats. Like the rest of the caretakers, Mr. Bentley let us through with a polite smile. 

I focused on Zach’s face as the mosasaurus leaped out of the water to eat the shark dangling above her. His eyes lit up and I smiled. 

“Want to see something else cool?” I asked.

“Yeah!” They both said at the same time. 

The three of us ran through the park towards the monorail. “The gyrospheres are really neat! You can drive them through the valley around different herbivores.” This was my favorite thing to do in the park. 

“Sometimes when both my parents have a day off we have races through the valley. It’s always girls against my dad. It’s so much fun.” I gushed over the memories of me sitting beside my mom, both of us laughing hysterically as my dad chased us. 

We sat on the monorail. Gray listened to my stories, hanging on every word as Zach sat behind us talking to the girls sitting behind him. 

“You’re so lucky, Mais.” Gray said, looking out his window. 

“What do you mean?” 

“Sounds like you have a lot of fun with your parents.” 

I shrugged, leaning back in my seat. “Whenever they have time for me. Takes a lot to run a park and the training program for the raptors.” 

“But it doesn’t seem to bother you.” 

“I don’t think so,” I shrugged. “This is all I know. What do you do with your mom and dad?” 

“Nothing, they fight a lot.” Gray didn’t take his eyes off the window. 

“Mine do too sometimes. They try and wait until I go to bed, but I hear them. It’s mainly about work though.”

Gray turned to look at me, tears in his eyes. Did I say something wrong? 

“It’s hardest when my dad leaves after an argument.” 

“I know,” I looked down at my hands. “My dad goes in the garage. My mom usually goes to her room. I fall asleep before they stop fighting, but by morning time they are normal and happy.” 

Gray narrowed his eyes at me. “So your dad doesn’t go somewhere for a day? Like packs a bag and leaves?” 

I shook my head, “Oh, no. My dad has never done that. Neither has my mom.” 

“Oh,” Gray went back to looking out the window. 

The rest of the monorail ride was silent between Gray and I. I was afraid I said something wrong. 

“This is our stop,” I informed them. 

Gray and I walked ahead of Zach who was still in a deep conversation with the two girls from the monorail. 

The ride operator was one of the younger workers. “Hi, Troy,” I smiled as we approached him. 

“Miss Grady,” he smiled back and motioned for us to get in. 

“Do we want to ride in two?” I asked as Zach and Gray climbed in. I was too young to operate one on my own. 

“No, sit on my lap.” Zach patted his knees. I climbed in and the belt stretched over both of us. 

“Enjoy your ride,” Troy said as we moved ahead. 

“Where are they?” Gray asked, looking around. 

“Go that way,” I pointed in the direction where I knew most of the herbivores liked to graze. 

Zach turned the gyrosphere where I pointed. Sure enough there they were. 

“Nice, Maisie!” Gray cheered. I smiled, pleased with myself. 

“Due to technical difficulties, all rides are now closed.” The screen spoke in front of us. 

“Oh, man,” Gray and I said at the same time. 

“Hey, no, it’s ok.” Zach said. 

I shook my head. “We have to go back.” 

“Look, you’re our VIP ticket. We can do whatever we want. Just a little longer.” He pressed. 

Zach’s cell phone rang and he picked it up. “Hi, Claire.”

“That’s my mom?” I asked with wide eyes. “Is she mad?” 

Zach shook his head at me. “What? I can’t hear you— we’re in the big hamster ball.” 

I giggled. “Gyrosphere.” I corrected. 

“Hello?” He pulled his phone from his ear to look at it. “We got disconnected.” 

“What did she want?” 

“Just asked where we were I think.” 

“Oh,” I relaxed. “That’s it?” 

Zach shrugged. “I couldn’t here her, but I guess.”

“What’s that?” Gray asked pointing to a broken part of the perimeter fence. 

“Off roading!” Zach said excitedly. 

“Now way!” I yelled, gripping the handle above my head. 

“I want to go back.” I knew this was completely off limits. 

“We will in a little bit.” Zach said and pushed the sphere through the open spot in the fence. 

“My dad is going to get really mad!” I warned them. 

“Look,” Zach pointed in front of me. “There’s four dinosauresus” 

I couldn’t help but giggle. 

“Ankylosaurus,” Gray pointed out. “And there’s five dinosaurs.”

“Aren’t you supposed to be some sort of genius?” 

I couldn’t help but agree. I counted four as well.

Zach counted them and the reflection of the fifth appeared on the glass in front of us. 

“Five,” Gray pointed out. 

The three of us turned to look over our shoulders. 

“What is that?” I screamed.

“Go!” Gray instructed his brother. 

Zach moved, but we were trapped in the middle of a nightmare. 

The Ankylosaurus spun to protect itself, smacking us with its tail. We spun out of control. 

I screamed as we bounced between the two fighting dinosaurs. 

We finally came to a stop against a tree, but we flipped upside-down. Zach held me tight to him. 

Zach’s phone vibrated above our heads. 

“Reach it,” I shrieked when I saw my mom’s picture flashing. “Mommy!” I cried.

“Almost got it,” Zach stretched his arm as far as it would go. 

“Zach,” Gray whispered. 

I looked where Gray was looking and screamed. Zach’s hand clapped over my mouth. 

“Stay calm.” Zach whispered to me. 

I did the complete opposite. The monster in front of us twisted the gyrosphere in its claws. I shut my eyes as tight as I could. 

“I want my dad!” I cried into Zach’s hand. 

I refused to open my eyes until I felt the gyrosphere lift off the ground. I opened my eyes to peer into the back of the monster’s mouth. Teeth were all around me. “Daddy!” I cried as loud as I could when we slammed back into the ground and brought back into the air. “Make it stop!” I pleaded. 

The glass shattered around us and Zach’s arm was tight around me. He unbuckled us and we fell to the ground below. I curled up on my hands and knees just as Zach threw himself over me and tucked Gray into his side. 

“Go!” Zach yelled, standing up and with his arm still around my waist, he lifted me with him. He carried me as we ran. 

We got to the cliff and he placed me down on my feet. I turned to see the monster run out from the trees behind us. I went to run, but Zach grabbed my arm. 

“We have to jump!” 

“I can’t” Gray gasped. 

“No!” I cried out. 

We didn’t have time to do anything else. “Do not let go!” Zach yelled, gripping my hand tightly. He threw his body off the cliff, dragging me with him.


	10. Chapter 10

“Keep up,” Owen grumbled. He stopped once more to wait for me to catch up.

I’d like him to try walking through the jungle in heels and not fall behind. “I’m sorry,” I rolled my eyes. I didn’t want to start anymore arguments between us, but he could be a little more understanding. 

Owen caught my eye roll and shook his head. “Take your shoes off.” 

“No!” I gasped. I wasn’t walking barefoot. Gross. “What if I step on something?” 

Owen threw his head back in a laughing fit. “Seriously? We are hunting down a killer dinosaur and you’re worried about stepping on something if you walk barefoot.” 

I didn’t see the humor in that. What if I stepped on a sharp rock, or a bug. I shivered. I opened my mouth to speak, but the loud roar off in the distance caused me to snap my mouth shut. 

Owen’s eyes went wide and he leaped towards me, taking my hand so I didn’t have a choice but to keep up with him. “Climb into there,” Owen instructed. He pointed at a fallen tree that was pressed against a boulder, leaving a small space between the two.   
I groaned, but let him push me into the tight space. He followed behind me as the roaring got closer. I turned to face him, throwing myself into him. He grunted from the force. 

“Ok,” he whispered. “It’s ok.” His arms tight around me he lowered us until we were laying in the dirt. I buried my face in his chest to keep from screaming. 

The Indominus rumbled the ground around us. She was right above us. 

I cried into Owen’s shirt. Maisie was out here somewhere scared and needing us. The most scared she has ever been was when Owen let her watch a scary movie with him before bed. I was working late that night and walked in the house to see her pressed to Owen’s side, using his shirt to cover her eyes. That night we spent most of the night promising her nothing was going to hurt her. 

We always kept her protected from the larger, scarier dinosaurs. There were only a few of the carnivores that we would let her see. Though she was safe from their teeth, Owen acted as her suit of armor. It killed me knowing she needed him. I wish I was the one out here alone while Owen held her protectively against him. I knew it was ripping him apart, too. He is her father, never has he failed to pick her up after she fell, protected her from the imaginary monsters under her bed. I would watch them on the security cameras as they walked through the park, his eyes always on her when she skipped ahead of him. We fit into our perfect little family. Owen picked Maisie up when she fell, gave her the strength she needed to carry on, but I was there for the reassurance. The hug and kiss that healed all bumps and scrapes. The final goodnight kiss after Owen deemed her room safe from monsters. Since the day she was born she’s been our entire world. 

“Maisie,” I mumbled into Owen’s chest once the footsteps faded away. 

“We’ll find her,” Owen kissed the top of my head and turned to crawl out of our hiding spot. 

I stood up and Owen smiled at me. 

“What?” I asked, pulling a twig out of my hair. 

“Guess we didn’t need to worry about getting your dress dirty before.” He said. 

I looked down at my outfit and sure enough I was a mess. I shook my head, rolling my eyes. “You would think of that right now.” I grumbled and walked passed him. 

“It’s kinda hot.”

“Can we focus on finding the kids?” 

“I am! I’m just saying.” 

I was glad to see he wasn’t as mad at me as he was before. I knew there was still a lot we needed to talk about, but finding Maisie and the boys was the most important thing. Arguing right now would do none of us any good. 

There was a low rumble not too far in the distance. Owen stopped short and for the second time today I ran into his back. 

“You need to warn me when you do that!” I hissed. 

“Hear that?” He asked ignoring my comment. 

I listened to what he was hearing. “That’s a car,” I pointed out, “this way!” I yelled, running ahead of him. 

“Claire!” Owen called out, grabbing my arm to hold me back. 

“It could be them!” I cried out, trying to shake my arm from his hold. 

“Behind me!” He demanded. 

I rolled my eyes, but stayed at his side.

“Why couldn’t I have a gun?” I asked watching him grip his in his hands. 

Owen snorted. “You’d shoot me.” 

I stopped walking, my mouth fell open with a pop. “I would not!” 

“Ok,” he laughed without looking at me. He kept his pace towards where the car’s sound came from. 

“I wouldn’t!” I hissed behind him. 

“I’m not saying you’d do it on purpose. You have bad aim with a stupid water gun. Why would I put a lethal weapon in your hands?” 

I went to complain, but smiled at the memory of the three of us running around the back yard, soaking each other with water guns Owen and Maisie picked up during one of their park adventures. 

We came up to a place I only heard about. I knew structures from the original park still existed, but I never seen any of them before. 

Inside the garage there was one of the old Jeeps from the first park. Owen glanced down at the fresh tire marks where another Jeep must have been parked. 

“Maisie,” Owen whispered, his back towards me. 

“Where?” I asked, stepping around to see what he was looking at. 

My heart sank when I saw he was clutching her pink sweatshirt in his hands. 

He took in an unsteady breath and wiped at a tear that escaped his eyes.

“Owen,” I reached for him, but he kept his back to me. moving to inspect the Jeep. I let my hand fall back to my side.

“How did they even get one of these things started?” Owen asked, looking around the work bench for anything that would get the second Jeep started. 

Just as he went to open the hood of the Jeep a loud footstep sounded outside. I jumped and moved to stand behind Owen. 

The roof of the garage threatened to give in as the Indominus moved around above us. I ducked down in front of the car and Owen followed my motion. This was it. We were going to die. The Indominus’ head peered into the garage, suddenly making the large space look very small. She smelt us. I focused only on Owen’s face. If I was going to die, I needed his face to be the last thing I saw. His eyes locked with mine and I knew he was thinking the same thing. 

Not able to fully reach us, she retreated back out of the garage and Owen’s shoulder relaxed. Though our terror wasn’t quite over. The ceiling completely caved in over our heads and she was there, still hunting us. 

“Down!” Owen yelled, throwing himself over me, his hands covering my head from the falling debris. 

“Get up!” He ordered just as I stumbled to my feet. 

I was running before he could even get the words out. There was a crash behind me, but I couldn’t look back. 

Owen leaped in front of me, running towards the door of the old visitors’ center. He spun around to help me over a fallen tree, but I was not focused on anything but survival. I leaped over the tree in a single bound and kept moving. 

“Now you move,” Owen chuckled running at my left flank.

I slowed down, breathless. No large footsteps following us. “Really?” I snapped.

He shrugged. 

I grabbed my phone to call Lawery. This was it. This thing needed to die. I gave him coordinates on where the indominus was and instructed him to get ACU after her. 

“ACU is airborne! They took the helicopter.” He answered me. 

“Who’s flying it?” I demanded. 

“Mr. Masrani!” He answered just as I heard the chopper overhead. 

“This could be it.” I whispered. 

Owen stood directly behind me. His eyes on the chopper overhead. 

The guns echoed in the air and I clapped my hands over my ears. I backed up, closing the small space between my back and Owen’s front. I pressed my back into him and he reached around my waist, holding me against him.

The guns weren’t enough. 

“No!” I cried out when she stormed through the glass of the aviary. 

“Shit,” Owen grumbled behind me. His arms tightened and my ribs screamed in protest. 

The chopper went down, crashing into the aviary. Mr. Masrani was gone. The man that helped me become who I am today. All hope for the park is now long gone. 

I didn’t have time to cry. Pteranodon’s made their way towards us. 

“Trees,” Owen gasped. He back us up as they approached in our direction. 

“Trees!” He called louder and we ran as fast as we could. 

We reached the tree line just in time and Owen reached for me, throwing me to the ground. 

“Let’s go.” Owen reached for my hand, pulling me to my feet. 

We were close to the park. We were close to the kids. My arms ached to hold my daughter. I wasn’t sure if I was going to warship Zach for keeping her alive, or kill him for wondering off from Beth. 

My phone rang just as we made it to the security gates. “Beth!” I called into the phone.   
“They spotted the kids on the security camera approaching the gate. I’m on my way to meet them now.”

“Yes! Stay right with them! We’re on our way.” I instructed. 

“Hey!” Owen called out. I turned to look at him. “Get on,” he instructed. He climbed onto the quad and I followed. He raced through the chaos. 

Owen was off the quad as soon as we made it to the resort. His eyes scanning the faces of everyone that ran by us. 

“Cover her!” Owen demanded the ACU officers standing next to us. He watched me climb onto a fallen snack stand. ACU flocking Owen as they took aim at anything coming in my direction. 

“Zach! Maisie! Gray!” I called out as loud as I could. 

“No, hold your—“ 

I turned to see what cut Owen off. I screamed as he struggled to keep a Dimorphodon from chomping down on his face.

“Owen,” I panicked. I needed to help him. His gun laid at his side and I reached for it without thinking. Knocking her off of him with the butt of the gun, I spun it around taking aim at her and shooting. 

Startled, Owen looked up at me and the dead dinosaur by his head. 

I reached my hand out to help him up and he took it, his eyes baring into mine. He got to his feet and took the gun from my hand. 

“I love you,” he growled and he roughly pulled me against him, his lips smashed into mine as if his life depended on it. 

I pulled away, letting the oxygen find my lungs again. 

“Mommy!” The high pitched scream caused both Owen and I to spin around. I was already moving in the direction of the voice before I spotted it’s owner.


	11. Chapter 11

Tears mixed with dirt fell like waterfalls from her eyes. She stumbled as she forced her feet to move faster than they were capable of. I stopped running, bracing myself for her impact. She didn’t slow down, her body slammed into mine. She trembled against me. Her face pressed into my neck as she continued screamed for me as if it hasn’t registered to her that she was already in my arms.

I sobbed into her hair, Owen’s hand squeezed my shoulder. 

“Aunt, Claire,” Zach’s eyes were wide. Apologetic. 

I pulled Maisie from her vise-like grip around me and Owen immediately scooped her up into his arms. She started crying all over again mumbling his name. He quickly checked over her injuries. 

“Where did you go?” I demanded looking back and forth from one boy to the other. “Why didn’t you come back? I was so worried about you!” 

They didn’t answer me. I checked them over quickly. Just scrapes and bruises, but they looked fine. I was grateful for that, but my relief of having them back with us was quickly turning to anger. This all could have been avoided. 

“Claire,” Owen stopped me just as I was going to scold the boys. “We gotta go.”

Maisie was wrapped around him. Her face buried into his neck, her arms and legs locked around him as he carried her. He reached for my torn up blouse wrapped in a knot around my waist. Pulling it loose with one hand he threw it over Maisie’s head, protecting her from seeing anything more traumatizing. Her body relaxed slightly as soon as she was covered against him, covered from the outside world. Of all the places to be on this island she was finally in the safest spot she could be. 

“Let’s go,” I grabbed the boys and they willingly followed me. 

“Mommy?” Maisie whimpered under my blouse, her voice muffled from Owen’s neck.   
He reached up and padded her back. 

“She’s right behind us.” He soothed. 

I reached up where her hands were locked together at the back of his neck. As soon as she felt my fingers she gripped my hand. My other hand held Gray close to my side. Zach’s eyes were on the ground as we walked. 

“What happened?” I asked him.

He shook his head. “I’m sorry,” he whispered. 

I let go of Grey’s hand knowing Maisie wasn’t going to let me go. I reached towards Zach and patted him on the back. “You three are safe. That’s all that matters.”

He shook his head again, his eyes peering up from the ground to look at me. “I mean about Maisie’s nanny.” His voice was a whisper as he glanced quickly at Maisie. 

My breath caught in my throat and I choked. “Where is she?” 

His eyes fell back down to the ground. “Eaten.” 

“What?” I stopped walking, Maisie’s hand slipping from mine as Owen— oblivious from our conversation behind him— kept walking. 

“Mom!” Maisie’s voice caused Owen to stop. He caught my blouse before Maisie can pull it down.

“She’s fine.” He reassured her and pulled it back down over her eyes. 

“What is it?” Owen asked, concerned of my frozen stature and tears silently streaming down my face. 

“Beth,” I sobbed her name. 

Maisie shuddered in Owen’s arms and she threw my blouse off her head. “Beth!” She repeated me.

The stress on her body was too much and she clapped her hand over her mouth. Owen fell to his knees patting her back as she expelled the contents of her stomach on the ground in front of her. 

“Oh, baby,” Owen soothed her. 

Maisie wiped her mouth and threw her arms back around Owen’s neck. “A Pteranodon picked her up,” she explained through her sobs, “The mosasaurus got them.” 

She wiped her eyes and looked at me. “Are we going to die, too?”

I hesitated. I knew she was going to make me promise her we wouldn’t.   
“No,” Owen answered for me. “Not while I’m here.” He picked her back up and kissed her cheek before placing my blouse back over her head. I was glad she was now oblivious to the destruction around us once again.

“Call in a chopper.” Owen told me. 

I immediately grabbed my phone to call Lawery. “Lawery, I’m on my way back to you.” 

“That’s a bad idea,” his voice was panicked, “the board assigned emergency ops to INGEN’s private security division. They’ve got this insane idea to use the raptors.” 

My eyes shot to the back of Owen’s head. “What do you mean, use the raptors?” I demanded.   
“Son of a bitch!” Owen growled. “Take the kids,” he handed Maisie to me, she whimpered from the loss of Owen, but held onto me, “get them somewhere safe.” 

“Shouldn’t say bitch.” Gray informed him. 

The large doors behind us banging as others tried to get through. 

“What is that?” Maisie asked from under her protective shield. 

“Nothing,” I lied. “You’re safe.” 

The door slammed open and a stampede of people and Pteranodon’s flocked towards us. 

We backed up until we came to an abandoned company car. 

“Get in!” Owen opened the passenger door and shoved Maisie and I in. 

He ran around to the drivers side as Gray and Zach raced to get in the back. 

Maisie straddled my lap and her face dug into my chest. 

Owen backed us up until we were away from the stampeding crowd. 

“This does not feel safe.” Zach half whispered from the back seat. 

“Can we stay with you?” Gray added. 

“I’m not leaving you for as long as I live!” I explained. 

“No, no.” Gray stated, placing his hand on Owen’s shoulder. “I mean Uncle Owen.” 

I look at Owen who seemed torn with what to do. 

Maisie caught on to the conversation. Owen needed to go to the raptors. She leaned back pulling my blouse off her head once again. Her eyes narrowed at Owen. “You’re not leaving!” She demanded, her voice angry.

Owen looked at her, his face in a state of shock. He composed himself quickly and reached for her dirty cheek. 

“You look too much like your mother when you do that.” He smiled. 

Maisie usually liked when one of us teased her about looking like the other. She wasn’t fooled this time. “You’re not leaving!” She screamed, her body trembling. 

“Ok, ok.” Owen spoke quickly to sooth her. “We will stay together.” He forced the words out. 

I looked at him with wide eyes. The raptors were way too dangerous to have any of the kids there, but I knew he was torn on his decision. There was no way neither of us would allow Maisie out of our sight. His decision was made, he was going to try and figure out how to keep the four of us safe as well as keep his raptors as safe as he could. 

I reached over and placed my palm on his cheek. I knew he was having the biggest internal battle of his life. 

He turned away from me and drove towards the raptor paddock. 

“Claire, if there is one time in our entire relationship that I really need you to listen to me, it’s right now.” His voice was low as he concentrated on the road more than he needed. 

“You have my word.” I answered. My arms tightened around Maisie and I glanced over my shoulder at the boys. They were leaning forward hanging on Owen’s every word. I knew what Owen was going to say next would most likely be life or death for the kids. 

“You stay at the paddock when the raptors are let loose. whatever happens, you do not follow.” He peeled his eyes from the road and looked at me. 

I quickly looked away from him, trying to hide the tears in my eyes. I didn’t want to be separated from him, but I knew my job right now was to keep the kids safe. My mouth opened to speak the words Owen wanted to hear, but I couldn’t get them out. I couldn’t agree to let him know not knowing if he’s come back to me alive. 

As if reading my mind he reached over, taking my hand in his and brought it to his lips. I closed my eyes as he kissed the back of my hand. The tears silently streaming down my face. I forced my breathing to stay normal as to not worry Maisie who was laying on my chest. Her body finally relaxed to the point that I wasn’t sure if she fell asleep or not. 

“I will come back, Claire.” 

I shook my head, squeezing his hand. “You can’t promise that.” I whispered, pressing my lips to the top of Maisie’s head. She stirred slightly and I knew she was asleep. 

“Can you promise me you’ll stay at the paddock?” 

I took a deep breath and nodded. “Yes.” 

He kissed the back of my hand again and held onto it tightly as he let his hand fall down to his lap. 

“What do you think Hoskins has planned?” I asked as the raptor paddock came into view. 

Owen shook his head. “Nothing. These are my animals and this will be ran by my plan only. Fuck that asshole.” His eyes narrowed and I could see his jaw clenching in anger. 

“Ok,” I said slowly. “What’s your plan then?” 

“I don’t have one yet.” 

I wanted to laugh at him, but my brain seemed to forget the emotion. 

Owen threw the car in park and he grumbled as Hoskins started walking towards us.   
“Keep the kids in the car.” He said just as Maisie sat back on my lap to look out the window. 

His face twisted with anger as he reached for the door. 

“He’s going to fight him.” Zach whispered, his voice close behind me.

“Probably kill him.” Gray agreed. 

I glanced over my shoulder to see them pressed into the small space between the front seats. My mouth opened to tell them to stop, but I shut it again. I couldn’t not agree with them and I couldn’t say I wouldn’t be happy to see that. 

Hoskins’ voice caught my attention and I slid Maisie from my lap. “Please stay here.” I asked the three kids. 

“Mom!” Maisie grabbed my arm as I got out of the car. 

“I’ll be right by Dad, you can see us the whole time.” 

She let go and twisted to climb in the back seat with Zach and Gray.


	12. Chapter 12

“The mother hen has arrived,” Hoskins smirked. I walked towards them studying Owen’s tense posture. Hoskins’ eyes fell on me as I approached them. “Someone decided to get down and dirty.” His eyes raked my body and I shivered. Before I could respond Owen’s arm shot out towards Hoskins and punched him in the jaw. 

I stared at Owen’s back as he took a step to his right, placing himself between Hoskins and I. “Get the hell out of here and stay away from my animals. Speak to my wife again I’ll break your damn jaw.” 

I moved around Owen to stand at his side. “Hoskins, you wanted this to happen. You son-of-a-bitch!” 

Thought I spoke to him he turned to Owen for his answer. I wanted to laugh at him. He was intimidated by him. Listening to his threat to not speak to me, he gripped his jaw and only spoke to Owen.

“Oh, Jeez, how many more people have to die for this mission to start making sense to you?”

Barry came up to stand behind me. “It’s not a mission,” he interjected. “It’s a field test.”

Before Owen could react I slipped out from behind him. “I will not authorize this!” I yelled, taking a step towards him.

“I don’t need you to!” Hoskins met my step.

“Back off!” Owen growled shoving Hoskins away from me. 

“This is an INGEN situation now,” Hoskins informed us. I shook my head and narrowed my eyes. He was using Mr. Masrani’s death as an opportunity to take over. “Ok, there is going to be cruise ships showing up here at first light. Everybody is going to get off this island. You’re going to hear news stories tomorrow and hear how you all saved lives.. No, no better yet how your animals saved lives!” 

Owen slowly turned to look at me, then he raised his eyes to where the kids were sitting in the car.

“It’s too dangerous.” I whispered. 

“They’ve never been out of containment. It’s crazy.” Barry agreed with me. 

Hoskins opened his mouth to say something to me, but glanced at Owen quickly.  
“I dare you.” Owen threatened him.

He turned his back on us. “Let’s move it out!” He yelled to his men. 

He turned back to look at Owen. “This is happening! With or without you.”

“You’re mean!” Maisie’s voice rang out. 

Owen and I spun to see her stomping her feet, hands in fists as she stormed towards us. Her eyes locked on Hoskins.

“Maisie, stop!” Zach was out of the car behind her trying to hold her back. 

“I’m saving your ass, kid.” Hoskins answered. 

“The raptors are my dads! You can’t just use them.” She was screaming. Owen caught her when she reached us. 

“You have no idea what your talking about, little girl. I’d watch what your saying—“ Hoskins was cut off when Owen pushed Maisie in my direction and took a step towards him, his hand ready for another punch. 

“Seriously? You want a broken jaw?” Owen threatened. 

“Do it!” Maisie pressed. 

“Hey,” I whispered, shaking her shoulders. “Calm down and get back in the car.” 

“He’s being mean to you and dad!” She complained. 

“Dad can handle it. Get back in the car.” I gave her back a light push towards the car and Zach took her hand. 

I turned back to see Owen toe to toe with Hoskins. “You so much as look at my kid again and I’ll feed you to the raptors myself.” 

“Owen,” I wrapped my hands around his right arm and tugged as hard as I could. He didn’t break his concentration on Hoskins. I tried again, “Owen, there’s more important things going on than this asshole.” 

Owen’s eyes slowly dropped to my face and the fire in his eyes faded. “Come on,” I tugged at his arm again. 

This time we let me pull him away. 

Hoskins immediately went to speak to some of his troops. 

“Are you doing this?” I asked, letting my hands slide down his arm and laced my fingers with his. 

“I have to,” he whispered. 

I nodded. “Then do it,” I took an unsteady breath, “I stand behind your decision. No matter what it is.” 

He leaned in and kissed me. 

“Claire,” he sighed against my lips. 

“Hmm?” 

“Your daughter has one hell of a temper.” 

I smiled, leaning in to kiss him quickly. “Wonder who she takes after.” 

“You.” He smiled and kissed my cheek.

I shook my head, but didn’t say anything more. I knew he was stalling as he tried to sort out a plan in his head. 

He studied my face before sighing. “Go stay with the kids until I come get you. I need a few minutes to figure things out.” 

I didn’t want to leave his side. I needed to hear what he was planning on doing, but the kids needed me more. We both knew that. 

I nodded and turned to walk back towards the car. 

“I hate that man.” Maisie grumbled once I was back at the car. 

“We all do, but right now dad has to work with him.” I replied.

“What is he doing?” Zach asked, watching Owen walk over to the tent with a group of men. 

I watched him lean over a large map of the island sorting out some plan that would place him in the center of the threat. My heart pounded in my chest as the men around him listened to whatever he was telling them. “Hopefully saving everyone,” was the best possible answer I could come up with.

“This will work.” Hoskins voiced made me jump. 

I narrowed my eyes at him. He raised his hands to surrender when he saw me glance over at Owen. 

“I’m just trying to help you see that this needs to be done.” 

“Go away.” Maisie groaned. “I’ll call my dad!” 

I pushed her shoulders in the car and shut the door before turning back to face Hoskins. “You don’t know if this will work. This animals are not as predictable as you think they are.”

“Did you not see the control Owen had over them earlier? He is the key to lead this hunt to victory.” 

I shook my head and kept my eyes on Owen. “They’re not ready,” I repeated, “I can’t agree with you when the only proof you have to go on is a freak accident that happened earlier today. Yes, he may have been able to stall the raptors long enough to get the kid out of the paddock, but did you see the way they attacked as soon as Owen had his back to them? If the gate didn’t stop them he would not be with us right now.” I swallowed back the tears. 

“He will do this.” Hoskins’ voice was low. It sounded more like a threat than encouragement. 

“Claire!” Owen yelled as he walked quickly over to me. 

I smiled to let him know there was nothing wrong. 

Hoskins walked away before Owen reached us. 

“What was that?” He asked. 

“Nothing,” I answered with a heavy sigh. “he really thinks this will work.” 

I glanced over Owen’s shoulder as the men he was talking to had moved from the tent to vehicles scattered around the area. 

He followed my gaze and took my hand in his. “There’s a truck that will keep you and the kids safer than the car. I want you to stay here until I come back for you…” he trailed off when he saw the tears in my eyes. “Hey,” he whispered, trailing his thumbs across my cheeks to catch my tears. “I will come back for you.” 

“I love you,” I choked out. 

He kissed me lightly and rested his forehead against mine. “I love you, too.” His voice was low and soft. His breath warm on my face. 

“Where are you going?” Maisie asked, shoving between Owen and I. 

We separated just enough to let her slide between us. Keeping my left hand in his, he knelt down to Maisie’s level. “I’ll be right back. Stay here with mom and your cousins.” 

Maisie went to protest, but he dropped my hand and turned to walk towards the raptors. 

Zach and Gray were at my side and I couldn’t help but smile when Zach instinctively took Maisie’s hand. 

“Those the raptors?” Gray asked. 

“That’s them,” Maisie answered proudly. 

“Mrs. Grady?” 

I turned towards the approaching voice. “Yes?” I asked the uniformed man. 

“I’m Doug, I’ll be running the field test with your husband.” He held his hand out and I took it.

“Claire,” I informed him. 

“Can we go see the raptors?” Gray asked me. 

“Listen to Owen.” 

The three kids nodded and ran towards the fenced in area that held the raptors. 

“Your husband wanted me to show you the truck.” 

“Thank you,” I smiled and let him lead me towards a large ACU truck.


	13. Chapter 13

“There’s a laptop in the truck so you can keep track of where everyone is. The video footage will be linked to the cameras on the raptors.” Doug informed me. 

“Ok, thank you,” I answered.

Doug left me alone at the truck and I took advantage of the moment alone. Wrapping my arms around my torso, I cried. I cried for the joy of having Maisie and the boys back with me. I cried for the loss of Beth. I cried for the fear of losing Owen as soon as the raptors were set loose. I cried for the unknown if any of us were going to survive. After a few minutes I composed myself to gather up the kids. My moment of weakness was over and I had to be the strong one now for both Owen and the kids.

I walked slowly towards the holding cage where the kids were talking to Owen through the bars. This was the closest I’ve ever been to the raptors. Every time I came to the paddock it was business and I was either in Owen’s office or he met me at my car.   
Owen’s eyes met mine and he stepped away from the kids. I smiled at him and his shoulders relaxed. 

“So,” I started, “this is who you’ve been spending all your time with.” 

Owen immediately caught on to the flirtatious tone in my voice. 

“What can I say,” he answered, “she gets me.” His face fell serious and my smile faded with his. “This isn’t a good idea. Especially if it works.” 

Where did his confidence go? I was relying on his confidence to keep me sane. My heart dropped to the pit of my stomach. 

“Then don’t do it. We will find another way.” 

He reached through the bars and laid his palm on my cheek. “I have to. If I don’t do it these men will destroy my raptors and I can’t sit back and watch that happen.” 

I nodded. “I understand.” 

“No,” Maisie whimpered beside me. Our conversation finally sinking in as to what Owen was about to do.

Owen walked out of the cage and knelt down in front of Maisie. “I don’t want you to be scared. You don’t need to be.” 

“Don’t go.” She squeaked, her voice barely above a whisper. 

“You have been such a brave girl today. I couldn’t be more proud of you. You know how much you fought to come back to mom and me?” 

He tucked a piece of hair behind her ear and she nodded, tears silently streaming down her face. 

“Well, now it’s my turn to fight to get back to you guys. I will do it, Maisie. I will come back to you.” 

I turned my back on them, trying to hold back the tears that were already overflowing.   
“Can you be strong for me?” Owen asked her. 

She was silent and I peeked over my shoulder. She was in his arms, crying into his neck. 

“Hey,” he gripped the tops of her arms so he could look into her eyes. “what’s the one thing I taught you.” 

She smiled at that and wiped her cheeks dry. Her shoulders squared and she held her chin up high. “Fear doesn’t win the fight.” She proudly stated. 

“That a girl.” He pulled her in to kiss her forehead. “You’re a Grady, kid. We know how to survive through anything.” He nodded in my direction. “The Dearing in you makes you stubborn enough to never give up.”

She gave a tight nod, confidence slowly flowing through her. 

“Love you, daddy.” She sighed and leaned into him, wrapping her arms around his neck. 

“Always,” he whispered back. 

I couldn’t hold back my sob. This was a saying they always spoke to each other after she was tucked into bed. I closed my eyes waiting for her response. The picture of them safe in her room filled the darkness behind my eyes. Maisie tucked safely in her bed. Owen leaning over her, making sure she had everything she needed. Happiness bubbled through them as they shared their personal saying. 

Maisie matched my sob as she cried against him. “And forever.” She answered into his neck. 

I clapped my hands over my mouth to try and control my sobs. Owen was on his feet, pulling Maisie into his arms as he stood. His free hand fisted my hair at the back of my head and he slammed his lips against mine. 

I opened my eyes when he pulled away with an unsteady breath. I caught the tears in his eyes as he placed Maisie down in front of me and turned to walk away. 

No words were spoken between us, but I knew he had no more strength to speak. I sighed heavily and looked at the three kids in front of me. They looked at me for any type of reaction.

“Let’s go.” I fought with every fiber of my being to turn away from Owen. It felt like he was dragging a large part of me with him, pulling me in the direction he was walking. I had to fight the ties and step in the opposite direction the ties wanted me to go.  
We walked silently towards the truck and I opened the back doors. “See,” I pointed out. “Totally safe.” I guided Zack in first, Gray followed quickly and I lifted Maisie up to Zach’s outstretched arms. 

Zach and Gray sat down in the two seats. Still holding onto Zach’s hand, he pulled Maisie onto his lap. 

“I’ll be right up front,” I motioned to the small window over their heads. “Just open that window.” 

Silently they each looked over their heads and back at me. 

“Buckle up.” I told them.

The three kids searched silently for a seatbelt coming up empty handed. 

“Ok, just hold hands.” I was at a loss. I had no idea what else to tell them to do. Obeying my order, Maisie and Gray grabbed hands immediately, their eyes wide. I nodded and shut the back doors, locking them inside. 

I bowed my head, gripping the lock, praying that it would keep them safe. Making my way to the front seat, I paused as I saw Owen’s motorcycle he must have requested arrive on a truck. I envied the men who went to retrieve it. I would give anything to be back at my house. To be leaning against the garage door impatiently tapping my foot, warning Owen that he’s been out working on that damn motorcycle far too long. I wanted to see him smile over it and begging for a few more minutes. Promising he would be right behind me on my way to bed. Those days were gone now. Where we went from here, I didn’t know. I couldn’t think that far ahead. What would we do? Our entire life was in that house. Wedding photos, our wedding night was spent in the house, the moment I found out I was pregnant was there, Maisie’s first step was in the back yard, her first words. We bought that house right before we got married. When we knew we wanted to settle here and create a life here. This was all we knew. 

I was pulled from my thoughts at the rev of the motorcycle’s engine. I scrambled into the truck and grabbed the laptop, flipping it open. Peeking out the window Owen was ready, singling to the kid on the platform to open the gates. 

“Oh, God.” I gasped when the four raptors were immediately at Owen’s side. They didn’t try to attack him. They moved together as one. In this moment Owen was one of them. 

“Your husband is a badass.” Zach said through the window watching the screen on my lap. 

Maisie giggled.

I smiled. He wasn’t wrong. Whether this worked or not I was proud of Owen’s courage. This was a side of him I’ve never seen before and I found it extremely attractive. I followed whichever raptor had Owen in view, sad to admit I didn’t care where anyone else was. Owen was my only concentration. 

Owen slowed down with the raptors just ahead of him. They came to a stop. This was it. They found the Indominus. 

“Oh, no.” Maisie whispered over my shoulder. 

I reached up behind me for the door to the window. “Ok, no, no no. You guys are not going to watch this. Keep the window closed.” 

They complained as I shut the window, but my decision was final. I couldn’t have them watch whatever was going to happen. I didn’t even want to watch, but I needed to keep an eye on Owen. As long as I knew he was ok, I could keep breathing.


	14. Chapter 14

I could no longer see Owen. Each one of the raptors were focused on something I couldn’t see through the trees. 

“Look at your Alpha!” I whispered to the screen. I wanted to see where he was. None of the four raptors listened to my plea. 

“Holy, shit!” I gasped when the Indominus made her appearance in front of them. 

“Mom?” Maisie’s voice was muffled behind the closed window. 

“It’s ok, sweetie.” I lied. 

“I want to see daddy.” The window slowly began to open and I threw my hand up to keep it closed. 

“I can see him,” I lied again. “He’s fine.” 

The motion on the screen caught my attention. I wasn’t lying. Each one of the raptors had their sight dead set on Owen. He was stationed behind a fallen tree trunk, rifle in hand. He had aim on the Indominus. 

What were they doing? I decided to keep my thoughts to myself. Owen looked panicked. Something was wrong. 

“ENGAGE!” Hoskins’ voice was loud, causing me to jump. 

No! No! Owen! I bit my knuckle to keep from screaming out loud. 

The raptors weren’t helping to kill the Indominus. They were working with her. The four of them turned on the men shooting at the Indominus. 

Tears streamed down my cheeks like waterfalls. I made sure to keep them silent. I was forced to watch as each raptor chose a man to kill. The fear in their eyes pleading with the raptor standing above them. Was it wrong I was thankful at this moment? None of the faces looking into the camera was Owen. 

I found myself slowly trying to move forward, planning out our next step without Owen. There was no way he was coming back to us. Not with an Indominus Rex and four Raptors on the hunt just feet from where he was. How was I going to explain this to our eight-year-old daughter? How was I supposed to raise her without her father? Owen and I were a team, we may be as incompatible as they come, but we know how to work together. Every aspect of life that I lack, Owen makes up for and vise-versa. In our case, opposites truly attract. Owen has always played the part as my rock. The only thing that keeps my level headed with all my corporate stuff I have to handle. I wasn’t sure I knew how to breathe without him. As the strong-willed and independent person everyone thinks I am, I would never admit it out loud, but Owen is the one that stands as my base. The one that keeps me standing tall. 

My thoughts trailed off when one of the raptors had Owen in their sight. She was focused on his face. 

Please leave him alone. I begged to myself. 

I jumped, my back slamming into the back of the seat the scream slipped from my lips. Something happened. The raptor that was starring at Owen was gone. The screen was blank. 

Before full panic took over another raptor had Owen in his sight. He was back on his motorcycle. He gave a whistle and the raptors quickly followed him. 

“Is everyone dead?” Gray asked, I jumped slightly forgetting they were back there. 

“No,” I was quick to lie. “Everyone is fine.” 

“Don’t lie to him.” Zach snapped at me. 

“He’s scared! It’s ok to lie when someone is scared!” I yelled back. 

Maisie was silent between them. Tears silently streaming down her face.

“I want to go home.” Gray whimpered. 

I reached for him, trying my best to keep him calm. 

“Oh, sweetheart, you will. Tomorrow you will be home and your mother will never let me see you again.” 

A bloody hand slammed against my window. It was Doug. 

I screamed as loud as I could, suddenly panic took over. 

“Get out of here! Go!” He yelled at me. 

I threw the laptop to the floor and with shaky hands I started the truck. 

There was commotion in the back. “They’re coming!” He yelled from the back. I glanced in the side mirror and saw the doors open. 

“No!” I yelled, seeing a tail swing around the back. 

I threw the truck in drive and took off as fast as the truck would let me go.   
Thankfully the raptor stayed behind. My heart broke as she took Doug with her. I couldn’t focus on that. The three kids in the back were my one and only priority right now. 

I could still see the doors swinging as I drove. “Just hold on back there!” I yelled, banging on the window.   
Maisie’s screams filled my ears, but it brought me some comfort. I couldn’t see her, but as long as I could hear her I knew she was ok. 

There was a blur out my window and I turned to see what it was just as the raptor smashed through, snapping at me. 

I let out another loud scream, terrified I was going to be yanked from the truck. She couldn’t hang on though and fell. 

My breathing came in short gasps. It was hard to catch my breath as panic ripped through me. I knew there were only three raptors left, and two of them were attacking us. Wherever the third one was I was sure she was close. Ready to attack at any moment. My eyes scanned the road, looking for the next attack. 

One of them caught speed, and ran up beside the truck. Thinking quickly, I swerved and pushed her into a tree. 

“Yes,” I hissed when we left her behind us. 

“Mommy!” Maisie screamed so loud my ears rang. 

I wanted to pull over. I glanced in the side mirror and realized why she was screaming. The second raptor was right at the back of the truck. 

“No!” I yelled, feeling completely helpless. If I stopped I wouldn’t have enough time to get out and help them. Driving on was my only option. Hoping she would lose her balance and fall out. The kids were inches from me, but I could do nothing to help them. 

“That!” Maisie yelled. 

“Turn it on!” Gray pleaded. 

“I don’t know how.” Zack responded. 

I wish I knew what they were doing. There were weapons back there and I was sure Maisie knew how to use some of them. 

Owen had taught her how to use some of them. He wanted her prepared whenever she went to the raptor paddock with him. Though at the time I was against it. Seeing a taser that was bigger than her in her hands sent a wave of panic through me. Now I thanked Owen over and over again. 

The kids continued fumbling with something in the back. “Right here!” Maisie informed them. “Get her!” She screamed. “You have to touch her with it. It’ll shock her. Do it!” She instructed. 

“I got it!” Zach yelled. 

There was silence behind me. 

I banged the wall behind me. “You guys ok?” 

“Hey!” Zach opened the window. “Did you see that?”

“I can’t wait to tell, mom!” Gray cheered. 

“Oh, please no. Don’t tell your mother about that ever.” I pleaded. I was having a hard time handling the fact that they took on a raptor on their own. My sister would die if she found out. 

“I’m going to tell dad!” Maisie’s face appeared in the window. Her smile stretched from ear to ear. 

Unlike my sister, Owen would celebrate with them. I rolled my eyes at the vision of Maisie excitedly reenacting the scene for Owen as he hung on every word. 

Maisie’s scream of delight snapped me out of my thought. “Daddy! It’s daddy!” 

I glanced in the mirror and sure enough Owen was behind us. My shoulders finally relaxed and my muscles ached from being tight for so long. 

“You guys ok?” I heard him yell. 

“Yes!” The three of them said at the same time. They cheered and yelled for him. 

I heard him speed up and saw him coming up the side of the truck. 

“We’ve got to get inside. Follow me.” He said and took off, placing himself in front of the truck. I focused on his back as he drove. I refused to look away from him. He was alive and we were together again.


	15. Chapter 15

“Lawrey,” I panted into my phone. “We’re heading your way. Call in a chopper.” 

“Hurry up!” He yelled back at me. “Zara went to your house to get some essentials you’ll need. She just left for the docs.” 

“Thank you,” I sighed and hung up the phone. 

“Are we going home?” Maisie asked over my shoulder. 

New tears spilled from my eyes. I couldn’t tell her our home was no longer safe. 

“We’ll be fine.” I promised her. That was the only answer I could come up with.

Thankfully she didn’t press any further. 

“Where are we going?” Zach asked. 

“Getting out of here.” I answered. 

“Finally!” Gray cheered. 

Owen slowed down in front of me as we arrived at the Innovations center. 

I barely had the truck in park and he was off his bike, running around to the back. I slid out, running behind him. 

“Let’s go!” Owen called out to the three kids. He automatically held his arms open just as Maisie leaped off the back of the truck, landing hard in his arms. She wrapped herself around him tightly as he made his way to the Innovations center. 

Gray and Zach ran after him and I brought up the rear, keeping the kids safe between us. 

“Claire,” Owen started and I took the lead. 

“Control room!” I yelled, “that way!” 

We ran as fast as we could towards our freedom from the island. Slowing down, I realized we were alone. The lab was empty as we ran passed. 

Owen glanced over his shoulder when he didn’t hear my heels clicking on the floor.

“They evacuated the lab,” I explained. The place was abandoned, the only sound was the humming of machines. 

Curious as to what the lab workers were up to, I took a step inside. 

“I want to leave!” Maisie complained. 

Owen placed her on her feet, ignoring her rough tug on his arm, he continued after me.   
She was slowly distracted by the reptiles in their cages. 

“Dad, why are these here?” She asked, poking at the glass tank holding a lizard of some sort. “They’re not dinosaurs.” She pointed out. 

Owen shook his head, placing a hand on her shoulder. His eyes met mine before answering her. “No, Sweetie, their not. They use DNA from these reptiles to fill in gaps for a specific dinosaur. It’s crap if you ask me.”

I cleared my throat.

“I agree,” she looked up at him and he smiled down at her before meeting my eyes again. 

“See, even she knows.” 

I opened my mouth to argue with him, but there was a commotion behind me. 

The lab wasn’t completely empty. Men I didn’t recognized were packing up DNA samples. 

“What are you doing?” I asked, stepping towards them. 

“I’m afraid that’s above your pay-grade, Honey.” Hoskins appeared from around the corner. 

“Where’s Henry?” I asked. 

“Dr. Wu, he works for us.” He answered. 

Gray stepped out from behind Owen, who took a protective stance in front of the three kids. His right shoulder keeping me slightly behind him. 

“That’s not a real dinosaur,” Gray pointed out the blueprints of the Indominus on the computer screen in front of us. 

Hoskins turned to look at the screen Gray was looking at. “Nope,it ain’t kid,” he agreed. “but somebody has to make sure that this company has a future.”

I began to understand it all. The Indominus wasn’t made for the enjoyment of the park goers. InGen had other plans. 

“Imagine,” he started, looking back at the screen again. “that one, a fraction of the size. Deadly, intelligent, able to hide from the most advanced military technology. A living weapon unlike we’ve ever seen.” 

Owen stepped away from us, his thoughts catching up to mine. Owen’s research for the raptors was a part of the plan for their next hybrid. They were using him to create a more dangerous monster than the one we were facing now. 

I stopped listening to Hoskins, too focused on Owen’s back, trying to read his next move. I was pretty certain he was going to kill him. 

I reached out quickly, touching his arm, bringing him down from the fire I knew that burned through him. 

His muscles tightened under my fingers. I gripped him tighter. 

Through the same door we came through, one of the raptors barged into the lab. Her focus was on Hoskins. 

“Shit!” He yelled, startled.

Maisie screamed, her arms locking around my waist. Owen’s arms shot out, holding the four of us behind him. 

Hoskins tried his best to reason with her, but she stalked towards him as if we weren’t even in the room. 

Mimicking one of Owen’s motions, he brought his hand out to try and get the raptor to understand him. 

Without hesitation she chomped down on his hand. 

Maisie screamed again, this time slipping from my grasp and running for the door.   
“Maisie!” Owen hissed, chasing after her. 

“Get me out of here!” She yelled. Owen caught up with her easily, reaching for her arm. 

Gray jumped around her running back towards the innovations center.

I ran after him. “No,” I told him. “This way.” 

Maisie, hysterics taking over, yanked her arm from Owen and ran towards the control room. 

The raptor dove through the glass window to the lab, blocking our path. Maisie tripped, trying to stop herself from running right into the raptor. Owen caught her mid-air and tucked her under his arm as we ran back to the innovations center. 

Finally back outside we took a moment to catch our breath. Too soon we were surrounded by the three remaining raptors. 

Zach and Gray were at my side, standing against Maisie who was hiding her face in my hip. 

Owen stood in front of us, directly in front of Blue. Their eyes locked and I was forced to keep my hold on the kids. I wanted to wrap myself around Owen to try my best to protect him. 

Blue stepped towards Owen and each one of the kids sucked in a sharp breath. I recognized Owen’s stance from many days of logging in to the security cameras at the paddock. Sitting at my desk I’d watch his motions closely. Right now I knew he was going to try and gain her trust. 

I jumped when she snapped at his outstretched hand, but she didn’t try and bite it. 

“Easy,” Owen spoke softly. His soothing tone caused Maisie to peek at him. I flattened my hand against her back, pressing her harder into my side. 

Owen’s hand got closer to Blue and she stood still, her eyes focused on his.   
“Easy,” he repeated even softer than before. 

He finally reached her headpiece and unhooked it, letting it fall to the ground. 

“Wow,” Maisie whispered. 

“That’s it,” Owen whispered. Satisfied. 

We heard her roar before she stalked around the corner. The Indominus came into view.

Maisie pressed her mouth into my hip and let it muffle her scream. 

Zach and Gray stepped close to me again. I let go of Maisie’s back and gripped Gray’s wrist. 

Would the raptors turn on Owen again? Was this our final moments? I almost felt ready. If this was how we were going to die then at least we would all be together. None of us being separated from the other—forced to move forward alone.


	16. Chapter 16

Blue turned her attention back to Owen, giving him a small purr. I could see his shoulders relax. 

Blue— sad to admit she was the only one I could recognize— stood her ground, protecting us. 

I wanted to yell out when she was suddenly thrown into the wall. The Indominus not showing any signs of weakness. 

Owen glanced quickly at the remaining two raptors. He whistled and they stalked forward. He had them under his complete control. 

As if we knew our place; Owen followed his raptors, shooting at the Indominus. I led the kids to a souvenir booth. Zach jumped over the counter first, landing on his feet he spun around holding his hands out. “Maisie!” He yelled and I all but threw her over the counter to him. He caught her easily and shoved her behind him. Gray was next and he leaped over without any help. I threw my legs over, landing hard on my knees. 

Maisie fell into my lap, crying out for Owen. 

“I hate it here!” She screamed as loud as she could. “I hate it!” I closed my eyes, trying to fight back the tears. I hated it, too.

“We need more,” Gray whispered. His voice shaking. 

I looked over Maisie’s head at him. “More what?” 

“Teeth,” he answered. “We need more teeth.” 

I immediately caught on to what he meant. He was right. If we were going to bring down this beast we needed something her size. 

There was only one dinosaur I knew who would be strong enough to take her down. “Ok,” I took a deep breath, standing up with Maisie in my arms. “just wait here,” I handed Maisie over to Zack. I opened the first aid kit in the booth and took out a radio and flare. 

“Where are you going?” Maisie squeaked. 

I ignored her, only looking at Zach. “Do not let her go.” 

He tightened his grip on her. 

Three sets of scared eyes stared back at me, as I glanced at each kid. 

“It’s going to be fine.” I said and swung my legs back over the counter, running towards the T-Rex paddock. 

“Mommy!” Maisie’s screams echoed in my head as I ran. 

“Claire!” Owen’s voice followed hers, but I didn’t look back at him. If I looked back he would have seen it in my eyes. The risk I was about to take. He’d all but tackle me to the ground, so I knew I had to stay far enough ahead of him. 

“Lawery, you still there?” I asked into the radio. 

“Hey, where are you?” He answered immediately. 

“I need you to open paddock nine!” 

“Paddock nine?” He asked, panicked. “You kidding?” 

“Damn it Lawery, be a man and do something for once in your life!” I was done being nice. If he stalled any longer it would cost my family’s life. 

“Why’d you have to make it personal?” He asked.

I threw the radio, starring at him through the security camera. I was done talking. 

The light flashed and the alarm blared as the door opened. Knowing the T-Rex followed the flares to her food I had to make sure she knew what she was going after. 

I lit the flare in my hands, the flame was hot, but I gripped it tight in my hand. 

The sound of her feet on the ground grew faster and louder as she spotted me. The moment I saw her eyes set on me, I spun and ran as fast as I could. The vibrations of the ground under my feet made it feel like she was right on me, ready to snatch me up. I didn’t dare look behind me. I’d rather not look back into her mouth the moment before she ate me. Thankfully I made it back alive. I threw the flare as hard as I could towards the Indominus. Throwing myself to the ground so I was out of the way, I looked up to see the T-Rex standing directly above me. 

My eyes scanned the area for my family. Owen had his left arm across Maisie’s chest, holding her against him. His right hand clapped over her mouth to keep her screams from being heard by either of the dinosaurs. 

Getting myself out of the way I hid behind a fountain.

I kept my eyes on Owen as the dinosaurs slammed into each other. He had backed the kids up, shoving Maisie behind his back. 

“No!” I yelled when the Indominus shoved the T-Rex through the wall where Owen and the kids were. 

He moved them out of the way just in time, but I could see the dinosaurs directly above them, the booth crumbling around them. 

“Run!” I screamed as loud as I could. 

Maisie was first to listen to me. She took off running and Owen shoved the boys to follow her. I opened my arms and she wrapped her arms around my waist. 

The boys dove behind me and Owen grabbed my arm. 

“Are you insane!” He hissed, and leaned over Maisie to kiss me. 

“Yes,” I panted. 

With one hand still tight on my arm, he laid his other protectively on Maisie’s back.

“She’s going to kill her,” Gray whispered beside me. 

The Indominus had the T-Rex pinned and was going for her neck. The familiar coughing of Blue caused all of us to turn in the direction she was coming from. She ran right to the Indominus, leaping onto her back. This made the Indominus stumble back away from the T-Rex. 

She was able to get back on her feet and help Blue fight. 

“We have to move,” Owen, still holding my arm, half dragged me along with him.  
Blue smashed through the window in front of us, but she got back up and didn’t even notice we were there. 

Maisie was silent as we ran and I worried she was injured. Looking down at her, her hand was relaxed in mine. I was the one squeezing hers. Her face was emotionless. No more tears streamed from her eyes. She was shutting down. 

“Owen,” I tried pulling my arm from his grasp. We made it to the edge of the shops, far enough from the fight. 

I shoved Maisie at him and she went willingly. Not even bothering to grab onto him.  
Owen noticed immediately. Kneeling down in front of her he took her face gently in his hands. She didn’t meet his eyes. She looked right through him. 

“Hey, sweetie,” despite the destruction going on around us he spoke softly. “I need you to look at me.” 

The noise behind me caused me to jump. The Mosasaurus jumped out of the water, grabbing onto the Indominus, pulling her down in the water. Though the fight was done my worry was now focused on Maisie. 

Owen didn’t seem to notice the fight was over. He stroked Maisie’s cheek. His voice stayed low and soft as he spoke to her. 

I sighed when she blinked, and her eyes focused on Owen. 

“There you are,” he smiled and leaned in to kiss her cheek. She slowly brought her arms up to wrap around his neck. He stood up, keeping her tight in his arms. 

Blue wondered over to Owen and he froze. I reached up and grabbed Maisie’s leg and my other hand shot out to grab Gray’s. 

Blue and the T-Rex moved off in opposite directions. Leaving the five of us to stand alone. Nothing but destruction surrounded us. 

We walked slowly towards the innovations center, no longer needed to rush. Gray’s shoulders slumped and Zack wrapped his arms around him to help support some of his weight. I patted Zach’s back and he smiled at me. 

“I’m proud of you.” I told him.

“Same to you,” he lightly punched my arm. 

We walked into the control room and it was eerily untouched. Walking in felt strange. It looked like a normal day inside, while utter devastation laid just outside the door. 

“You did it, Claire!” Lawery cheered, jumping up to hug me. “That was the most badass move I’ve ever seen!” 

“Thanks, Lawery,” I yawned. Suddenly exhausted. 

“Chopper is here.” He said and led the way to the helipad. 

The boys climbed in first and I helped them buckle their seatbelts. Maisie stayed clung to Owen, still not making a single sound. The moment we were in the air she slumped against him and was asleep. 

Owen draped his arm over my shoulder and I leaned into his side. We were alive. All of us were alive. Where we went from here it didn’t matter. Together is all I needed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Follow me on twitter! I post sneak peeks and stuff for some of my fics. Same username!


	17. chapter 17

It seemed like we were in the air forever before we finally landed at the Costa Rica airport. One of the hangers were being used for triage. 

We were escorted off the chopper. Medics swarmed us, I instructed them to check over the boys first. Maisie, still asleep in Owen’s arms was checked over without waking up. 

I followed Owen slowly through the sea of injured park goers and employees. They were in this state because of me. I felt like I should be walking around helping, but there were three kids who needed me even more.

Owen seemed to have caught on to my internal debate. “You sit with the kids, I’ll make some rounds.” 

Without a second thought, I sat on a cot. Zach and Gray collapsing beside me. 

“Relax you guys, your parents are on their way.” I tugged on Gray’s arm and he slumped down, resting his head on my lap. I ran my fingers through his hair, removing clumps of dried mud. Zach leaned against my side. Owen laid Maisie down beside Gray. She stirred, but didn’t wake up. Gray draped his arm over her side and he closed his eyes. 

The kids rested for a few hours before I saw my sister’s tear streaked face. I patted the boys, waking them up. I choked on my words. “Your parents are here.” 

Seeing my sister, I wanted to fall apart. Growing up she was my protector, my big sister that always made everything better. 

The boys jumped up, not even disturbing Maisie. Doctors said she will probably sleep off the stress her body was under. 

I held myself together until my sister moved towards me, a new round of hysterics erupted from her as she reached for me. I fell into her open arms. 

“Shh,” she soothed. 

“I’m so sorry, Karen. You can hate me.” 

She hugged me tighter. “You saved my kids. I could never ask for anything more. You’re alive. This is enough. Love you, Claire Bear.” 

I laughed through my sobs. “Love you, too.” 

I wiped my eyes when I leaned away from her. “There’s a hotel near by we have set rooms aside for guests.” 

Karen shook her head. “I want to get these guys home. Our flight leaves in an hour.” 

I nodded. I wish I could take my family home. 

“Come with us, Claire.” 

Tears welled up in my eyes again. I couldn’t get my voice above a whisper. “I can’t.” 

She took my hands in hers. “I know you’ll have a lot of press to deal with, but when things settle please consider coming home.” 

“I’ll talk it over with Owen.” 

She smiled and hugged me again.

“How’s my niece?” She asked, kneeling down to kiss Maisie’s cheek. 

“Traumatized,” I sighed. “I don’t think I will ever get her screams out of my head.” 

“You will. It’ll take time, but the sound of her laughter will soon replace those screams. She’s young, she will be ok.” 

What would I do without my big sister. I hugged her again and they were gone. I sat back down, lifting Maisie up to cradle her in my arms. She curled into my chest, her hand gripped the top of my tank. I took a few moments to hold her. I stared at her face, letting the world around me disappear. She was center in my thoughts. Images of her filled my mind. My baby girl just born, plopped down on my chest. Her messy smiles from her highchair. The echo of giggles as she splashed in the tub. I felt like the luckiest woman on earth that we survived. That Maisie was safe in my arms. 

“Let’s get her out of here,” Owen’s voice brought me out of my thoughts. He was kneeling in front of me, his hands on my knees. “I just spoke to Zara, she checked us in to the hotel and there’s clean clothes waiting for us.” 

Tears welled up in my eyes as I looked at him. “What do we do now?” 

He took my face in his hands and kissed me softly. “Stick together. That’s all we need.” 

“Ok,” I took a deep breathe and let Owen take Maisie from me. 

We made it to the hotel without being stopped. A security officer stood at the elevator on our floor. I smiled at him knowing he was there to make sure we had our privacy.   
Our room was large enough for the three of us. A bedroom separate from the living area and kitchenette. Two bathrooms one in the bedroom and another just off the kitchenette. The couch was already pulled out and made up for Maisie. Her pajamas folded at the foot of her bed. Wondering into the bedroom I found clothes for Owen and I as well. Zara, knowing exactly what I would need had the closet packed with professional outfits for the coming press conferences. 

“Thank you, Zara.” Owen smiled looking through the dresser drawers. 

“Let’s get Maisie cleaned up and in bed.” Owen handed her to me and went to start the water in the tub. I sat her on the bedroom floor, trying my best to wake her up. 

“Come on, sweetie, let’s get cleaned up.” I tapped her lightly on her cheek. She groaned, but didn’t open her eyes. 

“The warm water will probably wake her up. I’ll go see what I can do for something to eat.” He gave my arm a squeeze as he walked out of the room. 

I undressed Maisie and sat her up in the tub. She blinked, bringing her hands up to rub her eyes. I left the light in the bathroom off, just letting the light from the bedroom shine in. 

“Where are we?” Maisie croaked. 

“In a hotel. We are safe.” 

“Gray? Zach?” 

“They were picked up by Aunt Karen and Uncle Scott. They went home.” 

She yawned, “We didn’t die.” 

I shook my head, “No, we didn’t.” 

“I’m tired.” 

“I know, honey. You can get into bed as soon as you’re done here. Dad went to go find something to eat.” 

Maisie yawned again. “I’m not hungry.” 

“Ok, then you can have something to drink and go to sleep.” 

She clicked her tongue in her mouth and I knew she was just realizing how thirsty she was. I jumped up and grabbed her a glass of water. 

She drank it quickly and let me finish cleaning her up.

Owen walked back in the room with a to go bag of food from the restaurant downstairs. 

Maisie ran to her bed, crying when she saw her stuffed raptor Zara brought over for her. She hugged it tight.

Owen handed her a container with chicken strips and fries. Though she said she wasn’t hungry she couldn’t deny the food in front of her. She sat in her bed eating while Owen flipped through the TV channels for a kid friendly program. 

“I’m going to shower.” I informed them. 

I shut the bedroom door, immediately stripping from my clothes. Glancing in the mirror on my way to the bathroom I cringed at the site of dirt covering every part of me.   
The shower was hot and I lost track of time as I washed myself once, twice, a third time…

Shutting the water off, I stepped out and wrapped the towel around me. I caught my reflection in the mirror. Clean as if nothing happened. We would be home right now if it wasn’t for me. If I didn’t authorize the creation of a monster, our life would have never changed. 

I wrapped my arms around my torso, falling to my knees. I sobbed harder than I have ever done before. My chest hurt, I couldn’t catch my breathe. 

The bathroom door slowly opened and arms wrapped around me, pulling me into warmth. 

Owen smelt clean, his chest bare against my skin, my hands gripped his sweatpants. He must have used the other shower. 

He didn’t try and calm me down, didn’t pat my back. His arms were tight, keeping me grounded against him. 

My chest rose and fell as the sobs ripped through me. Owen was silent. He let me cry for a few minutes and then I felt him scoop me up into his arms. I opened my eyes and tried blinking away the tears as he carried me to the bed. 

I looked at the closed door. “Maisie ate, she’s asleep,” Owen nodded towards two boxes of food on the dresser. “You need to eat something.” 

I sat on the bed, my fingers digging into his arms. His eyes dropped to look into mine. I wasn’t hungry. I was alive— we were alive. 

I started breathing heavily again, but for a different reason. I was done crying. I wanted to feel alive. 

Owen was quick to read my mind. I jumped to my feet, throwing my arms around his neck at the same time he wrapped his arms around my waist, lifting my feet off the ground. 

Our lips met in a fierce battle for dominance. I wrapped my legs around his hips as he climbed onto the bed, lowering me down. I kept my legs around him and he leaned back on his knees, ripping the towel off me. 

I yelped as the towel burned my back from the force.

Laying in Owen’s arms made it easy to forget the outside world. I found myself drifting off to sleep as he trailed his fingertips across my back. 

“Hey,” he whispered into my hair.

“Hm,” I mumbled against his chest. 

“We should probably get dressed. Just incase Maisie wakes up.” 

He was right, but I didn’t want to move. I didn’t want the moment to end. 

Realizing I wasn’t moving on my own, Owen sat up, forcing me to slump down on the mattress. 

He tossed me my clothes and I dressed quickly, wanting to be back in his arms. He must have felt the same way because he was quicker than I was, by just pulling on his sweatpants and climbed back in to bed. We quickly let sleep take over.


	18. Chapter 18

I could hear light snoring beside me. Not ready to open my eyes yet, I reached for Owen. Something smaller was in the way. Blinking a few times, I realized Maisie was between us. 

I rolled onto my side and pulled up the blanket to cover her. She had an arm draped across Owen’s face and she was curled into his side, her face pressed against his shoulder. 

This was not the first time we woke up with Maisie in our bed. Though the island had many thunderstorms, Maisie hated every single one of them. Hearing the first rumbles of a nightly storm was always followed by tiny feet pounding the floor as she rushed into our room. 

Owen stirred, and twisted his head. He blew at the object on his face and I giggled. He moved his head slowly, opening his eyes to realize it was a hand. 

He looked at me and rubbed his eyes. “Hey,” he croaked. 

“Want some coffee?” I asked, slipping out of bed carefully so I didn’t wake Maisie. 

“God, yes.” Owen followed me out of the bedroom. 

“What’s wrong?” He asked when he noticed me limping.

“My feet hurt.” I could barely walk. 

He snorted, “Told you to take those damn shoes off.” 

“Shut it.” 

Owen laughed and sat down on Maisie’s bed. 

I made some coffee and immediately checked the messages on my phone. Zara had left a few messages letting me know times for my press meetings. Luckily the Masrani Corp. Lawyers were taking care of most of the legal aspect. 

“How long do you have to stay here?” Owen asked when I placed my phone on the table. 

I shrugged, “Few days.” 

He stood up slowly and walked cautiously over to me. “I was thinking of taking Maisie out of here. She doesn’t need to be in the middle of all this.” 

My eyes narrowed. He wanted to leave me here alone. 

He saw the look on my face and looked at a spot on the wall over my head. “Claire,” he sighed. “You and I both know this is not the place for a kid.” 

I nodded slowly. “I agree, but I need you, Owen.” 

His eyes dropped to look at me again. “Why?” 

“Why? Gee,” I paced the floor in front of him. “I don’t know for moral support? You expect me to do this alone?” 

“You made all the decision on your own yesterday! Didn’t you kick me out of the control room? Was that you, or maybe it was my other wife.” 

I blinked away the tears. I was not going to show any signs of weakness, or show how bad he was hurting me. He was right. 

I only had one word left for him and I spoke low and slowly. “Go.” 

He didn’t look surprised. He grabbed my phone and started making other arrangements. 

I walked into the bathroom to act as if I was going to get ready for my first meeting and let myself cry. Only allowing myself to cry for a moment, I pulled myself together to start getting ready. 

Maisie was still sleeping when I walked out of the bathroom. I leaned down and kissed her hair. 

Owen was still on the phone, talking to someone about airline tickets. My heart sank and I quickly pulled myself together. 

I waited until he hung up the phone to speak. “Take her from me before I get back and I will never speak to you again.” I threatened. 

His eyes went wide and he stood up slowly. “I’m not taking her from you.” 

“But you are.” I argued.

He clapped his hands to his temples. “Jeez, Claire! You want her in the middle of your press conferences? I don’t know what the hell you want me to do. You are the Operations Manager. You made that very clear yesterday. I don’t want to be here.” 

I clenched my hands in fists, “You think I want to be here?” 

“You have to, Maisie and I don’t.” 

I opened my mouth to speak, but closed it. Shifting my weight angrily I opened my mouth again and snapped it shut. So many things I wanted to scream at him right now. So many words I knew would hurt him just as much as he was hurting me. Wanting this conversation to be over, I opened the door and slammed it shut behind me. 

He didn’t follow me down the hallway. I wanted him to tell me everything was going to be ok. I knew his intensions to take Maisie away from all this was in good thought, but he was the one that told me we were going to stick together. 

Maisie needs both her parents to get over this trauma. Taking her from me would devastate her just as much as it would me. He wasn’t thinking of her mental state. He was using her as an excuse to run. 

If there was one thing I know best about him is his need to run from a stressful situation where he knows he can’t control it. It’s where we have always butted heads. We fight to gain control over any situation. Over the years we’ve learned to work together, but things seem to be spiraling out of control and neither one of us can gain dominance. 

I took a deep breathe before pressing the elevator button. 

The security guard smiled at me. “Good morning, Mrs. Grady.” 

“Please,” I said quickly. “It’s Claire.” 

He nodded. “Big day today?” 

“You could say that.” I sighed heavily. 

The elevator doors opened and thankfully inside was empty.

“Good luck!” He called after me. 

I did my best to smile as the doors shut. 

Cameras flashed as soon as the doors opened to the lobby. 

I squinted through the bright lights. Voices blared around me.

“It’s her!” 

“Mrs. Grady!” 

“Claire!”

“Over here!” 

I couldn’t see the faces to match the voices coming at me. 

A hand gripped my arm and I was shoved between two husky men. Part of me hoped Owen had on the TV watching me go through this without him. I wanted him to feel bad at the fact that I apparently needed body guards and he refused to help me. 

I was escorted into a small conference room where two more guards stood at the door.

“Zara!” I smiled when I saw her shove through the two men standing shoulder to shoulder in front of me. 

I hugged her. “Thank you for everything you did in our room. It helped out a lot.” 

“You saved so many people, Claire. It’s the least I could do. I’m here till the end. You’re not alone.” 

I couldn’t hold back the tears. Words that I desperately needed to hear were spoken by my assistant instead of my husband.

She hugged me again, patting my back. 

When she pulled away she motioned for me to sit down. I realized we weren’t alone in the room. Employees from the park sat, filling in almost every chair. This was a debriefing. 

There were a five men in back suites sitting in a row at the front of the room. I recognized three as Masrani’s lawyers. The other two must be lawyers for the insurance company. 

The five of them stood when Mrs. Masrani motioned for them to follow her. When I realized she was walking towards me, I met her step. Tears silently falling down both our cheeks. 

“I’m so sorry!” We both say at the same time. 

She pulled me in to a tight hug. 

“He adored you, Claire. From the age of nineteen you proved to him you were a strong force to be recon with.” 

My voice shook as I spoke. “I always looked up to him. Your husband was a wonderful man.” 

I was only half listening to her informing me of what the company and insurance lawyers settled on for all survivors of the incident. There were also settlements already agreed on for the employees. 

Memories flashed through my mind. Mr. Masrani’s chopper falling out of control. His last moments spent fighting for control. 

Once I was caught up and agreed on all information Mrs. Masrani relayed to me, she took my hands in her as she spoke. “Claire, Honey, this will be completely up to you, but the company would like to release some security footage from the island—“

I cut her off. “Anything that doesn’t have my daughter or nephews in it would be fine. Back of their heads is acceptable, but please do not show anything with their faces.” 

One of the lawyers had a recorder held up as I spoke. Another was quickly jotting down my approval. 

We were then instructed that the conference was ready to begin.

“Let’s talk to the world.” She spoke with a confidence I didn’t know a recent widow could have. 

I for one had my husband, but couldn’t conjure up that amount of confidence. 

The press conference was long and seemed to last for days rather than hours. Mrs. Masrani and I took turns answering questions. Most of them were pointed at me, as everyone was interested in the story of how we killed the Indominus. 

I surprisingly kept my voice from cracking as I spoke. 

Once we were finished Mrs. Masrani and I were escorted back to the conference room. 

“How long do I need to be here?” I asked her.

“After tomorrow you’re relieved from duty. We have paperwork tomorrow morning. As far as the rest of the afternoon goes,” she nodded towards the ceiling, “go be with your family.”

I fought the urge to roll my eyes. 

Mrs. Masrani continued, “After paperwork is finished you will be free to book whatever interviews you would like. You are not obligated to do any if you don’t want to. You gave your statement.” 

I sighed, relieved. “Thank you, Mrs. Masrani.” 

I all but raced to the elevator, my suits of armor struggling to keep up with me. “I’m fine, thanks.” I said when they tried to follow me into the elevator. 

“As you wish.” One of them said and they backed out just as the doors closed. 

I opened the door to my room and Maisie was in my arms. She was crying. 

“I don’t want to go!” She dug her nails into my back. 

I looked up at Owen who was sitting on the couch, neatly put back together where Maisie’s bed was. “You couldn’t wait to explain this to her?” 

The joy of my news quickly faded. He wouldn’t care that I was free to go in a day. He was leaving now.


	19. Chapter 19

Owen stood slowly and walked over to where Maisie and I stood. “I figured this was best.” 

“Well you thought wrong!” I snapped. 

“Please!” Maisie clung to me. 

“I came up here to tell you I was free to go tomorrow.” I hissed at Owen. 

His eyes widened before he composed himself. “I didn’t know.” 

“Well you should have waited to talk to her. How long has she been like this?” 

He shrugged, turning to look out the window. “She doesn’t need to be here.” 

“Did you not hear me? I can leave tomorrow!” 

Owen looked down at his hands. “Claire, I thought you would have to be here for a while. I was preparing Maisie to leave shortly after you came back.” He glanced at his watch. “We have a flight in two hours.” 

Tears welled in my eyes, and I stomped my foot, heel clicking loudly against the linoleum floor. 

“Ok,” Owen moved quickly across the room. His hands resting on my cheeks. 

“Please don’t.” I begged. I was begging Owen and we both know I am not one to beg for something.

He hugged me, with Maisie stuck between us, her arms still locked around me. 

“Tomorrow,” I cried into his neck. 

“Then tomorrow we will leave together.” His words were strong. He meant it. 

Maisie let go of me and I fully collapsed in Owen’s arms. I didn’t realize I was shaking until he tightened his grip on me. 

“Get me out of here.” I sobbed. 

Owen began to rock, his hands rubbing my back. “I will, baby. I swear I will.” 

He walked me over to the couch and Maisie climbed over me, settling in between us. 

“Why are you mad at mommy?” She asked Owen. 

He bit it bottom lip. “I’m not mad, Mais. I just didn’t want you around all the cameras and stuff.” 

“But it’s not her fault.” 

He gave a half smile. “I know, honey.” 

She turned to look at me. “You’re not mad at daddy, right?” 

I glanced at him and he reached over her for my hand. “I’m sorry,” he mouthed at me so she didn’t see.

I smiled and looked back down at Maisie. “No, I’m not mad,” I tucked a piece of hair behind her ear, “Sometimes adults do crazy things when they’re under a lot of stress.”

Owen took over for me. “We are a family. You, me, and mom. The three of us. Always. No matter what happens we will always have each other.” 

Maisie gave a hard nod, she liked what she heard. She slid off the couch and crawled over to her bag to begin unpacking it. 

“Leave it to an eight year old to be the only adult in the room.” Owen grumbled more to himself than to me. 

I stood up, looked over my shoulder at him and opened my mouth to speak, but snapped it shut. Instead I made my way to the bedroom. 

“Where are you going?” Maisie looked up from her bag. 

“Just going to lie down for a moment. My head hurts.” I wasn’t lying, but I needed a moment to myself. I knew in Maisie’s eyes it’s easy to forgive and forget, but I didn’t want to tell her I was still upset with Owen. He was reacting first and thinking after. This was not how we work. Something in him was changing and it’s beginning to scare me. My wedding ring suddenly feeling heaving on my finger. 

“You ok?” Owen began to stand up and I waved him away. 

“Just give me a minute.” 

I shut the door behind me and leaned against it, finally letting the tears fall silently. The alarm clock by the bed was also a radio. I turned to a channel that played classical music and turned it up just enough where Owen and Maisie would know I was actually laying down. There were plenty of days at work where I left with a pounding headache. In my room with classical music was my escape. They both knew that. 

I grabbed my phone and hurried into the bathroom, quietly shutting the door. I found my sisters name and hiccuped as I pressed the call button. 

As if no time was missed between us, she still knew me like the back of her hand. She answered her phone with a heavy sigh. “Talk to me, Clare Bear.” 

I couldn’t talk, I cried into the phone, but made sure to stay quiet enough. She was expecting this and sat quietly as I cried, throwing in the occasional, “Shh…”, and “it’s ok,” when I started losing control. 

I took a few deep breaths before gaining control of my voice. “He was leaving with Maisie.” I cried into the phone.

“Was?” She questioned.

I nodded though she couldn’t see me. “Was,” I repeated, “I can leave tomorrow, so he’s going to wait.”

“Where was he going?” 

I leaned back against the door, bringing my knees up to my chest and letting my forehead fall against my knees. “I don’t know!” I sobbed. “Karen things are falling apart and I don’t know how to put it all back together. I want things the way they were.” 

She took a deep breath, choosing her words carefully. “Sweetie, things will not be the same again. I really hate to say it, but this will be a huge test on your marriage.” 

I opened my mouth to deny her thought, but she spoke quickly so I couldn’t interrupt her. 

“I know you don’t want to hear that, but hear me out. You and Owen have a stronger relationship than I have ever seen. Sure you’re going to disagree a lot right now, but you’ll always find each other again.”

“I’m not so sure about that anymore.” 

“Claire,” Karen grumbled. “You always put worse case scenario first. You’ve done it since you were little. That’s not what you can focus on right now. I can’t begin to understand the amount of stress you’re under right now, and sure, Owen was wrong for throwing something else at you, but Claire, think of it from his point of view.” 

“But I needed him, too.” I whispered. 

“There it is,” I could hear her smile in her words. “and I bet you didn’t tell him that.” 

“I did, but it’s more complicated than you think…” I continued to explain to her our spat in the control room when the Indominus first escaped. 

“Ok,” she paused as she thought for a moment. “Here’s what’s going to happen. When you are done with your paperwork and you guys are free to leave. You will come here. Claire—do not try and interrupt me!” 

I snapped my mouth shut wondering how she knew I was going to object. 

She continued without pausing. “Let Maisie stay with us for a day and you and Owen go lock yourselves in a room somewhere. No TV, no phones, just the two of you. Go at it, whether you scream at each other, just talk, or find a bed and take out your frustrations—“ we both giggled at that. “I don’t care what you do as long as things are sorted out by the time you come pick your daughter up. Right now she’s thrown in the middle and I bet you’re walking on eggshells trying to not scare her.” 

I nodded. “We really are.” 

“So this is happening Claire. I will tell Owen it’s happening. He knows better to cross the big sister.” 

I smiled at her familiar protectiveness. Though it’s been years since we saw each other she’s still the one person I can always count on. 

“Go put yourself back together. I’m so proud of you. The boys are, too.” 

We said our goodbyes and I hung up, finally not feeling like I wanted to crawl in a hole and never be seen again. I opened the bathroom door just as I heard Owen’s phone ringing. I smiled to myself knowing Karen was on the other end of that call.


	20. Chapter 20

I changed into more comfortable clothes and laid across the bed. As Karen expected Owen was hesitant on the phone with her to leave Maisie out of his sight, but in the end he knows not to cross her. 

I smiled and closed my eyes remembering the day we got married. Karen helping our mom put my veil in place, she chatted about how lucky Owen was to actually get me to settle down. 

She left the room to what she said was to check on Zach and Gray. Being that I was forced to stay put because I was already dressed, I moved to look out the window. Zach and Gray ran around the yard, Gray just barely walking fell every few steps. Hearing Owen’s voice, I looked to see Karen speaking to him. A conversation that started off with Owen smiling and agreeing with her, ended with her finger pointing in his face and his eyes wide. Never in my life have I seen Owen intimidated by someone, but Karen can do that when she’s got someone to protect. Guess that runs in the family. 

The bedroom door open slowly, pulling me from my thoughts. Owen poked his head in and I could hear a cartoon playing on the TV that must have had Maisie’s attention. 

“Just got off the phone with your sister.” he informed me.

I nodded and turned to lay on my side, curling myself in a tight ball.

I felt the side of the bed dip from his weight as he sat down behind me. “Claire, I love you, you know that, right?” 

I closed my eyes refusing to cry anymore. 

He continued when I didn’t answer, sighing heavily. “I do, Claire. I know that doesn’t change things right now, but it’s a start, right?” He continued knowing I wasn’t going to answer. “We will leave tomorrow after your relieved of duty and head to Karen’s house. I will do anything to prove to you that my love for you hasn’t changed. Things may be a bit rocky right now, but damn, Claire, I need you more than air.” 

I turned over so I was on my back, his eyes were already on my face. “You were leaving.” I pointed out. 

He shook his head. “Not because I didn’t want you. I would have came back and dragged you out of here in a few days, whether you were ready or not.” 

“You didn’t tell me that before. Telling me you’re taking my daughter from me is not telling me you love me.” 

Owen scooted over so he was sitting beside me, his leg touching my side, he leaned over me, resting his hand on the mattress beside me to support his weight. 

“Claire, I know you have a lot going on right now and as the Husband and Father in this family I have a lot going on, too. I have to keep the two of you safe, and it kills me to let you go off into mobs of people. At this moment in time I am literally forced to choose protecting my wife or my daughter.” 

“Maisie always comes first.” We both said at the same time. 

He smiled, glad I understood that. 

He continued, “As the man in this family I need to have a plan set forth of what happens now.” 

I noticed a tear in his eyes and slowly sat up as he spoke.

“I just don’t know what to do now, Claire.” 

“You don’t have to do all that on your own. We are equals in this. We have more than enough in our savings to keep us going for quite a while.” 

Owen nodded, his shoulders relaxing. I was the one in charge of finances and Owen never knew just how much we were able to save. By living on the island we were able to purchase the house for next to nothing, given my job title. Plus driving a company car meant no car payments. 

We sat in silence, Owen chewed the inside of his mouth which only meant he was planning something. I wasn’t quite sure if I should be worried or not. Owen’s spur of the moment plans don’t always work out the way he wants. Like the ill faded hiking trip he planned for us that ended with me spraining my ankle and he had to carry me halfway down the mountain. 

“I got it!” Owen yelled. He leaned down to kiss my cheek and ran out of the bedroom. 

“Oh, boy.” I grumbled and rolled back on my side. 

I smiled to myself, feeling a little better knowing Owen’s feelings for me were still strong. 

“Mama?” Maisie whispered behind me.

I rolled to my other side so I was facing her and opened my arms. “Come here.” 

She quickly climbed on the bed and curled herself into my arms. 

“Are you sad?” 

I kissed her nose. “A little, but nothing for you to worry about. There was a lot I had to do today.” 

She reached up and poked my forehead. “Does it still hurt?” 

I squeezed her closer to me, smelling her scent. “Not anymore, sweetie.” 

“Daddy said we are going on a road trip.” 

I raised an eyebrow. “Road trip?” 

She nodded. “He’s on the phone planning it out right now.” 

“This should be interesting.” I grumbled. 

Maisie laid with me until Owen poked his head in the bedroom. “Pizza will be here in a few minutes.” 

“Yum!” Maisie jumped around on the bed, flung herself off and landed in Owen’s arms.   
When I walked into the main living area of the hotel room, I noticed Owen had Maisie’s bed made up again. 

We ate while Owen explained his brilliant road trip plan. 

“We will fly into the states tomorrow evening and I got a van that will serve as our home for a little while. We will drive to Karen’s house and then go away for the weekend.” He informed us. 

“Go away where?” Maisie asked, picking her pepperoni off her pizza and eating it.

“Just mom and I. You’ll stay with your cousins.” 

Her eyes lit up, “Oh! A sleepover!” 

Though this would be a first for her, she seemed excited. She had a few friends on the island, but most employees didn’t want the boss’s kid sleeping over their house. Plus Owen was always a little too protective to not have her in her own bed at night.

After dinner Maisie wanted to call Gray and Zach to plan our their sleepover. She threw herself on her bed, laying on her stomach. Her legs kicked up as she swung her feel in the air as she spoke to her cousins. 

“Teenager in training.” I laughed. 

Owen rolled his eyes, “Can’t wait.” 

“Maisie, time for bed.” I told her, giving them more than enough time on the phone. 

She said goodbye and handed my phone back to me. 

“Mom,” her eyes were wide when I pulled the blankets up around her. 

“What is it?” I asked.

“There’s no dinosaurs, right?” Her eyes flickered towards the window. 

I knew this was going to come up. Last night she was too exhausted to understand much. 

“They are on the island. We are safe.” I informed her. 

“I miss Beth,” her bottom lip quivered. 

“I know, sweetie, we all do.” 

“I’m sorry,” she whispered, tears streaming down her face. 

I quickly wiped them off her cheeks. “It wasn’t your fault.” 

She shook her head. “I broke my promise. If I stayed with her like you said maybe she’d still be with us. You and daddy wouldn’t have ran around to find us.” her words shook as she cried. “But, mommy,” she continued now sobbing. “you promised I would have fun!” 

I yanked her up and held her tight on my lap. Owen was in the shower and I knew she was waiting for us to be alone to have this conversation. 

“I’m sorry, too. We both made mistakes and it’s ok. Did I ever tell you we are allowed to break one promise each. So this means from this moment on no more broken promises.” I held up my pinky and she looked down at it. “I promise,” I whispered.

She hooked her pinky with mine, crying harder. 

“Beth died trying to protect you guys. It was no one’s fault.” I tried my best to keep my voice strong. 

I tried leaning back so Maisie would look at me, but she shook her head, pressing her face into my neck. 

“Maisie, it’s not your fault.” 

“It is!” She cried.

“Look at me,” I shook her lightly and she peeked up at me. With her eyes locked on mine, I leaned forward. “It’s not your fault. Do you hear me?” 

She nodded slowly.

I raised an eyebrow. “Do you hear me?” I asked again.

“Yes. It’s not my fault.” She repeated my words. 

I hugged her tight until she stopped crying. Her body relaxed and I rocked her until she was asleep. 

“I’ll help you,” Owen said when I tried moving to lay her down. He was leaning against the doorframe to the bedroom. 

“How long have you been standing there?” I asked when he lifted Maisie from my arms. 

He tucked her in and turned to kiss me. “Since you’re little promise to each other. I figured it was a mother, daughter moment and as always you handled it like a pro.” 

I smiled and leaned in to kiss him. “Thanks.” 

We climbed into bed and I curled into Owen’s side. His arms held me tight and I fell asleep feeling safe and protected.


	21. Chapter 21

I felt like a zombie as I was instructed to sign my paperwork. Saying goodbye to the only job I’ve ever known was harder than I expected. 

One good thing out of this final meeting was they were sending people in to recover personal artifacts from our homes. The living quarters on the island were ten miles from the resort and gated in. Mrs. Masrani knew her husband would want this done for his employees. 

I quickly signed the release form which stated they were not responsible for anything lost in transit. Giving my sister’s address for our delivery site, I smiled. Owen and I may have to start over back in the States, but at least we will have all our important items with us. My list of items to be brought over manly included every picture in the house, some of Maisie’s favorite toys that I knew would help her adjust to our new life a little easier, and Owen’s motorcycle though I knew that was going to be more tricky. The motorcycle was parked in front of the Innovations Center. Mrs. Masrani promised she would get it to me. 

Owen spent years building it up from scratch. I will never forget his excitement the day he got it running. Maisie sat on it with Owen’s helmet on. He had promised her a ride around the yard as soon as he got it started. His helmet almost covering her tiny shoulders as she sat patiently. At five-years-old she knew every part of that motorcycle just as well as he did.

I heard it start up from the kitchen where I was cleaning up from lunch. The yelling and cheering from the two mechanics made me check on their progress. Owen was jumping around with an unsteady little girl, trying to jump with his helmet on.   
Surprising her with her own purple, sparkly helmet she was ready for her ride. 

Panic gripped at the pit of my stomach as he rode in circles around the back yard until they ran out of gas. 

I smiled at the memory and couldn’t wait to have the pictures I took of that day to be in my hands. Our memories were saved. 

Giving Mrs. Masrani a final tearful hug goodbye I ran to the elevator. My guards struggling to keep up and help me through the crowd of reporters.

“Owen!” I yelled, barging into our room and tripping over all of our bags packed by the door. 

“Whoa, there killer.” Owen laughed, moving to catch me as I stumbled my way through the mess.

“They’re getting our stuff!” I exclaimed. 

Maisie cheered around us. 

“Where is it going?” He asked me.

“My sister’s house. I figured it can go there and we’ll move the stuff into storage until we find a place.” I decided to keep his motorcycle a secret for now. Mainly because I knew it would be a great surprise, but also I didn’t want to get his hopes up if it was destroyed or they couldn’t get to it.

“Great!” Owen smiled. 

“Can we go now?” Maisie asked, swinging her bag over her shoulder. 

“We can go.” I sighed and knelt down in front of her. “It’s pretty crowded down there. The two men who have been escorting me around are expecting us. I need you to hold Dad’s hand and do not let go.” 

Her eyes went wide and she reached for Owen. He gripped her hand tight. 

“We’ll just take the stairs.” Owen suggested.

I shook my head. “They are just as packed.”

One of the parks security guys came to take our bags down to the van and we made our way to the elevator. The security guard at the elevator stepped inside with us this time. I had asked for extra security getting Maisie out of the hotel. I knew some of the reporters wanted to hear from her and the boys, but I refused to put them in the spotlight. 

Owen was tense beside me, his arm tight around my waist and his free hand holding Maisie against him. 

“Don’t talk to anyone.” I instructed him. 

He nodded. “I know.”

The elevator doors opened and my guards stepped in the way of the flashing lights. 

“Hell no,” Owen grumbled and lifted Maisie in his arms. With his free hand he twisted her head so her face was against his neck. 

“The Raptor Dad!” One reporter yelled, gaining more attention from others. 

“Look, the little girl!” Someone yelled. 

Voices began to yell around us, trying to ask Owen and Maisie questions. “Mrs. Grady is that your husband and daughter?” a reporter questioned, shoving a recorder in my face. One of my guards blocked her arm and his hands were tight on my shoulders. 

“Claire!” I heard Owen yell when he noticed I wasn’t behind him anymore. He spun around and looked even more stressed as the two large men had their hands on me leading me through the crowd. 

Two more men had stepped in to help keep Maisie hidden. I knew Owen would much rather be face to face with a dinosaur than be in this moment any longer. Skipping the larger crowd over by the stairs, we were escorted through a small door towards the back exit. 

As soon as we were out of the crowd, Owen reached for my hand. The guard who had his hands on my shoulders immediately let go. 

“That was scary.” Maisie mumbled against Owen’s neck. 

“It’s over now.” One of the guards reassured her. 

“Thank you,” I told them. 

“Yeah,” Owen agreed, turning to shake the two men’s hands who were standing behind me. “I appreciate you keeping my wife safe yesterday.” 

“Of course.” They said at the same time. Though Owen wasn’t a small man by any means, the two men were larger. 

Taking my hand again Owen walked towards the waiting van. We got in before any of the reporters knew we were there. 

“Was it like that yesterday?” Owen asked as the driver drove towards the airport. 

I nodded. 

He reached over Maisie, who was seated between us, and squeezed my leg. “I’m sorry, I wasn’t there.” 

I patted his hand. “You needed to be with Maisie.” I knew that’s not what he meant, but I didn’t want to talk about that anymore. 

He seemed to understand and dropped his gaze to Maisie. “You ok, kiddo?” 

“Will it be like that all the time?” She asked, wrapping her arms around his right arm that was stretched across her.

“For a little while, maybe. A lot of people want to talk to us.” I answered. 

“Once we get on the plane we will be off the grid for a while.” Owen added. 

Maisie looked up at him. “What’s that mean?” 

“It means no one will be able to find us. I’m getting rid of phones for a while.” 

I was surprised at how relieved I felt thinking of not having my phone. As soon as we got on the plane, Maisie curled up between Owen and I. Her head on my lap while Oweb held on to her legs. She was asleep before the plane took off. 

I watched out the window as land disappeared and we were flying over the ocean. My mind wandered to my plane ride that started it all. Arriving for my summer internship and never leaving… until now. For fourteen years that island was my home. I felt it as soon as I stepped off the plane. Where would we find home now? 

Peeling my eyes from the window, I looked over at Owen. My heart skipped a beat when I found him staring at me. 

“What?” I asked. How long was he looking at me?

He shook his head. “Just trying to figure out how the hell I got so lucky.” 

I dropped my gaze to Maisie and blushed. 

Owen laughed lightly and reached over to poke my reddened cheek. 

I playfully slapped his hand away. 

“Claire,” he sighed, twisting his hand and lightly rubbed his knuckles against my cheek. “I am sorry for putting you through more stress than you needed. I didn’t realize it was that bad in the lobby. I’m an ass for not being there for you.” 

I caught his hand in mine and kissed his palm. “You didn’t leave. That’s all that matters.” 

He sighed heavily and looked away from me. His hand dropped to my leg, just above Maisie’s head. I knew he was fighting with himself and I left him to fight his internal battle. Turning my head to look back out the window, I laid my hand over his and laced our fingers together. 

“Claire,” Owen’s voice was close to my ear. 

“What?” I groaned, trying to fight my eyes open. 

“We’re landing soon.” 

I blinked a few times before my eyes focused. I wasn’t sitting up anymore. My head was on Owen’s lap and I was curled up across the middle seat where Maisie should be. I quickly sat up trying to wake my mind up to focus.

“Over here,” Owen pointed to the row of seats across from us. Maisie was sitting with another little girl that looked to be her age. They were playing a card game. 

“They woke up around the same time. She was visiting the park with her mom.” Owen explained, nodding over to the sleeping woman against the window. “Mom looked tired so I said I’d keep an eye on the girls.” 

I listened to their giggles and moved to the middle seat, twisting myself to curl into Owen’s side. “You’re a good man, Owen Grady.” I sighed into his shirt.


	22. Chapter 22

“Mom!” Hailey, the little girl Maisie was sitting with, poked at her mother. “We’re landing!” 

She stirred in her seat and smiled down at her daughter. “Did you girls have fun?” She asked them. 

They both nodded. 

“Thank you again,” She smiled at Owen. “It’s been a long few days.” 

“Yeah, we know.” Owen sighed. 

The woman’s eyes fell on me and I wanted to sink further into Owen’s side. “Are you Claire Grady?” 

I nodded and opened my mouth to apologize, but snapped it shut when she pushed her way by the girls and leaned over Owen. Her hand gripped mine eagerly. “You saved us. Thank you!” 

I shook my head. “Don’t thank me, really.” 

“Please,” she insisted, “I get to bring my daughter home because of your quick thinking. You saved thousands of people.” 

I couldn’t find my voice. I didn’t know what to say to her. 

“This,” she motioned towards Maisie. “is your daughter?” 

I smiled. “Yes, and this is my husband, Owen.” 

“Oh my gosh!” Tears welled up in her eyes as she turned to look at Maisie. “The news reports, the kids lost in the jungle—“ She clapped her hand to her mouth not able to finish. 

She turned to reach for Maisie’s hands. “You are one brave little girl. I can’t believe you guys are sitting right here!” 

Maisie smiled at her, but was more interested in continuing her game of UNO with her new friend. 

The flight attendant instructed everyone to be back in their seats and Hailey’s mother was quick to obey. With a final wave she slid back to the window seat beside her daughter. 

“Can I stay here until we land?” Maisie asked us. 

Owen looked at me and I nodded. 

Once on the ground the girls said goodbye and we split off to find my sister. There were no reporters, no cameras or strange looks. People were only worried about themselves and their families. We were just a part of the hustle and bustle of the airport. It felt oddly strange.Owen still gripped Maisie’s hand tightly and his other hand was tight around mine. I knew he was thinking the same thing I was.

“Claire!” Karen called out as we approached the baggage claim carrousel. 

I yanked my hand free from Owen’s and sprinted into my big sister’s arms. “You good?” She whispered into my ear. 

I nodded against her shoulder. “I’m fine.” 

We separated and she dropped to her knee. “Little Claire!” 

Maisie giggled and ran into her open arms. “Where are Zach and Gray?” She asked, looking around.

“Home,” Karen answered. “They wanted to finish setting up the guest room for you. There’s a few surprises waiting at the house for you!” 

“Me?” Maisie shrieked. 

Karen nodded and stood up to greet Owen. “Thanks for bringing my sister home.” She tried her best to smile at him. 

“You bet,” he would have rolled his eyes if we weren’t looking at him. 

We got our bags and Karen led the way to her car. Owen quickly climbed in the back with Maisie and I made a mental note to tease him about being afraid of my sister later. 

“Remember this place?” Karen asked as she drove down a familiar street. 

“Of course I do.” I answered. Peering out the window I knew this street well. We grew up here. She was taking me down memory lane. Trying to get us to settle here. She slowed down when we came up to our childhood home. We fought over putting the house for sale after our parents died, but I didn’t have any use for it and Karen had her house. Now as we inched by, there were two little girls playing in the front yard. 

“Looks like the house was put to good use.” I half whispered as I watched the two sisters chase each other. 

“You lived there?” Maisie asked, leaning over Owen’s lap to look out his window.

“Yes, your mom and I were raised in that house. While you’re here with me I’ll take you around and show you our school!” Karen spoke excitedly to Maisie. 

“Oh, cool!” She exclaimed.

“Karen,” I shook my head and narrowed my eyes at her.

She suddenly had to concentrate on the road in front of us. 

I sighed, “Not going to work.” 

“I can try!” She glanced at me and winked. 

I couldn’t help but laugh. 

The rest of the ride was mainly Karen reliving our childhood. Every corner we passed had a story she had to share. Some Owen actually laughed along with and others he sat quietly listening. I could feel his eyes burning into the back of my head.

As soon as we pulled in the driveway, Karen beeped and the boys came barreling outside. “Aunt Claire!” Gray yelled and flew into my arms. 

“Uncle Owen!” Zack held his hand out and Owen grabbed it, reaching out to pat his back with his free hand. 

“Hi!” Maisie cheered. 

Zack lifted her up in his arms and kissed her cheek. 

Karen wrapped her arms around my shoulder. “Look at them!” She cooed. 

The boys rushed Maisie inside and she disappeared with them up the stairs. Owen looked frantic as she moved out of his sight. I reached over and squeezed his hand. We weren’t in danger anymore. 

“I need a beer,” he grumbled and led the way inside immediately heading for the fridge. 

“All stocked and ready for you,” Karen informed him as he pulled two bottles out, popping one open. 

She worked on opening a bottle of wine and poured her and I a glass. “So,” she started, handing me my glass. “where are you guys going to go for your little vacation?” 

I shrugged. 

“Driving.” Owen answered, finishing his first bottle and opening the second. 

“Interesting,” Karen watched him closely as he downed his second bottle. 

I elbowed her in the ribs. 

“I’ll stop!” She mouthed and stepped away from me. 

“How have the boys been?” I whispered, not wanting them to hear me talking about them.

Karen shrugged. “Zach is completely changed, but for the better. He really makes an effort around the house. I don’t think the boys have fought since they got home. Normally I’m locking them in their rooms.” She took a deep breath and sipped her wine. “Gray has had some nightmares, but he’s been looking forward to seeing you guys again.” 

I looked down at my glass, not wanting to meet her eyes. “I’m so sorry, Karen.” 

“Stop, Claire. This is not your fault!” 

I slammed my cup down on the counter. “I wish everyone would stop telling me that! It is my fault! I stayed on that damn island because I wanted to make sure there were no more accidents like Isobel and Justin. I failed! God, I failed miserably! I should have been able to stop it. That was my job!” 

Karen and Owen stood, watching me closely. I knew grieving came in stages. I was passed being sad. Now I was angry. 

I jumped back and away from Owen’s outstretched hand. I didn’t want to calm down. I wanted to be angry at myself. 

“You don’t think bringing our kids home is something to be happy about?” Karen asked in her mom voice. I hated when she used that tone with me. 

“No my point,” I grumbled. 

“It’s mine!” She yelled. “What did you do after Justin died? You made it better!” I shook my head, but her hands were tight on my arms.“You found a way to make up for his loss. For years that Island was safer than walking down the streets of New York City. You did that, Claire! You did that because you had something to prove. So you came up on another setback. Use it! Do something amazing with it! That’s who you are. This is not you, moping in self pity. The Claire I grew up with would have thrown herself headfirst into the situation to try and make it better.” 

I narrowed my eyes as I thought of her words. Of course she was right. I needed to find something good to come out of this. 

I glanced at Owen quickly as he sat silently watching us. He knew the story about my internship. I could see him slowing understanding what Karen just told me. He agreed with her.

“Mommy!” Maisie’s feet pounding on the stairs as she called out for me, pulled me from my thoughts. 

Karen dropped my arms and Owen popped open another beer. 

“Look!” She yelled, rounding the corner into the kitchen. She had a handful of small plastic animals. “Zach said Aunt Karen took them out of storage for me. They were yours!” 

I smiled, reaching for a triceratops she had tucked in her arms. “I remember these. They were my favorite toys when I was your age. I used to pretend I was saving them when Grandma and Grandpa let me pick one out at the store.” 

Owen snorted behind me. 

Karen slapped the back of his head. 

“Ow!” He complained. “What? I thought it was cute.”


	23. Chapter 23

The next morning I woke up to an empty bed. Feeling the sheets where Owen should be I noticed they were cold. He’s been up for a while. Though the guest bedroom was set up with toys for Maisie, she bunked with Gray for the night. 

I got up to peek into his room and smiled. They were both in sleeping bags on the floor laying close to each other. For the first time in a few days I knew they were sleeping soundly. They had each other.

Closing the door quietly, I heard someone downstairs and the strong smell of coffee was too tempting to ignore. “Morning, Claire Bear,” Karen smiled over her mug. She sat at the kitchen table.

“Where’s Owen?” I asked noticing he wasn’t anywhere in the house. 

“Him and Zach went to go pick up the van?” She made the statement a question, raising her eyebrow. 

“Ugh,” I groaned, slumping down in the chair beside my sister. “He wants us to go off the grid for a while. Apparently we will be living out of a van.” 

Karen pursed her lips, waiting for me to continue. 

“I don’t mind traveling for a little while. It actually sounds fun. Maisie hasn’t seen anything other than the island, so it’ll be fun seeing the world through her eyes.” 

“Ok,” she answered cautiously. 

We drank our coffee in silence for a few minutes. 

“Oh,” I remembered I needed to talk to Karen while Owen wasn’t around. “They are sending men over to some of the houses to retrieve personal artifacts. I put your address down for our stuff. We’ll move it to a storage unit until we come back from our cross country trip or whatever it is Owen has planned.” 

She nodded, smiling spreading wide across her face. 

I rolled my eyes. “This doesn’t mean I’m moving back home. There’s no where else to send our stuff.”

“Ok,” her smile grew. 

“I’m trying to get Owen’s motorcycle here, but it’s a surprise.” 

“You’re a good wife.” Karen giggled. 

“I’m guessing you and Scott are…” I trailed off not knowing how to finish the sentence. She hasn’t brought up the fact that she sent the boys to me so they could settle their divorce. They showed up to pick up the boys together, but I haven’t seen him since we arrived yesterday. 

She shook her head and looked down at her mug.

I narrowed my eyes. “What, I have to talk about my marriage and you think you can shut down when I ask you about yours?”

“We went through with the divorce. There was nothing left to fight for.” She said quickly.

“I’m sorry,” I whispered. 

“Don’t be sorry. Just fix your marriage and break this ugly cycle our family has started.” She got up to refill her mug. 

She was right. Our parents struggled with their marriage after I went off to College. They tried to make it work, but in the end they were happier being apart. Karen and Scott had a similar situation. Now here I was, feeling like Owen and I were hanging on by a thread that could snap at any moment. 

“I will,” I promised. “we will be fine.” 

“Mommy?” Maisie called out from the second floor. 

“In the kitchen!” I informed her loud enough so she could hear me. 

Two sets of feet raced down the stairs. 

Maisie rubbed her eyes as she crossed the room. I pulled her onto my lap and kissed her hair. 

“How did you sleep?” I asked her. 

“Good! Gray and I pretended we were camping.” 

Gray let out an embarrassed laugh. “Her idea, not mine.” 

“We’re back!” Zach called out as he walked into the house. “Uncle Owen got donuts.” 

Gray and Maisie ran to grab the box from his hands. 

Zach walked over to poke my shoulder. “Uncle Owen wants you outside.” 

I sighed. “Of course he does.” I grabbed two donuts. One for me and one for Owen and made my way outside. 

I froze on the front steps. The van in front of me looked no different than a tin can. We were supposed to live in that? 

“Well?” Owen asked, stepping out of the van and holding his hands out towards it. 

“It’s…” I shifted my weight from one leg to the other. “Well…” I trailed off again not sure what to say. 

“I know!” Owen took my loss for words as a compliment. I didn’t have the heart to tell him it was the exact opposite. “I paid cash for it. It was a great deal!” 

I walked slowly towards him. He took one of the donuts out of my hand and leaned down to kiss me. 

“Owen,” I said carefully. “we have the money to get something a little… bigger.” Nicer.

“No,” he disagreed. “this is perfect.” He took my hand and led me inside. Though the van was small it was cute inside. The kitchenette and living room were the same thing. A table that I could tell turned into a bed separated the living area from the small bathroom. A pocket door at the very back of the van led into a small bedroom with a queen size bed. My eyes raised in surprise that a bed that size actually fit in here. 

“Go get dressed! I want to hit the road.” Owen moved by me grabbing my donut out of my hand on his way by. 

“Owen!” I complained. “That was mine!” 

“I know!” He called over his shoulder. “I ate mine.” 

I rolled my eyes and followed him out of our… home. 

I found myself stalling as I made sure everything was packed. Organizing and then reorganizing my bag I sat at the foot of the bed in the guest room. “Ready?” Karen asked, poking her head in the doorway. 

I shook my head. “I don’t think I can leave without Maisie.” I could hear the kids playing out in the snow. Karen had made sure Maisie had warm clothes and a snowsuit among the surprises she had for her. 

“It’s a few days, Claire. She’ll be fine.” She walked over to grab my bag from me and turned back towards the door just as Owen walked in. He took my bag from Karen and silently led the way down the stairs. I could see the struggle in his eyes as well. This was going to be harder than we thought. 

Karen followed us out to the van and when she knew the kids were still in the back she grabbed both our arms. “Figure things out. Don’t sit in silence waiting for the other to start the conversation. Talk about everything on your mind. I don’t want to see you pull back in this driveway until there’s nothing else you need to discuss. I will have Maisie call you to say goodnight.” I hugged my sister and she kissed my cheek. “Oh and if you come back pregnant that would be good, too.” 

I laughed as I pulled away from her. “One is enough.” 

She shrugged and turned to stomp her way through the snow to call around the back of the house. 

Maisie stumbled towards us, not quiet coordinated enough to walk through the snow. Being that this was her very first time ever seeing it. 

Owen laughed behind me as she tripped over her bulky boots and landed on her knees in the snow. 

She laughed so hard it brought tears to my eyes. She was happy. I never thought I would hear that laugh again. 

Zach scooped her up like she was a football and walked over to us. He placed her on her feet and she was still laughing. 

I reached for her, pulling her hat back so I could see her eyes. “Be good, ok?” I choked on the lump in my throat.

“I will!” She bounced in front of me. I was relieved she wasn’t begging us not to leave. 

She hugged me and moved to hug Owen. 

Karen had to shove us in the van in order to get us to leave. 

The three kids waved until we couldn’t see them anymore. Maisie’s cheeky smile never left her face.


	24. Chapter 24

Owen drove for a few hours before pulling into a camp site. The ride was mostly silent with a few failed attempts at small talk. 

“I picked up cold cuts for sandwiches.” Owen said as he stepped into the back of the van. He immediately went to work on making lunch. 

I sat at the small table the looked more like a booth from a diner than a kitchen table.  
Knowing I was going to have to start the conversation we knew was coming, I waited until Owen sat down. He sat across from me, placing a plate in front of both of us. 

“Can you just tell me what you’re thinking?” I wanted my voice to sound more confident than it did. 

“I’m thinking that I’m hungry.” He answered, taking a bite of his sandwich. 

I watched him eat for a few minutes. His eyes never met mine. “You’re mad at me.” I pointed out. 

He took a long chug of his beer. 

“You want to yell, now is the time, Owen. This is why we are here. We’re out in the middle of nowhere.” 

He got up to throw his empty plate away. “You going to eat or not?” He asked, pointing at my untouched sandwich. 

I jumped to my feet, anger rippling through me. Owen’s hands clenched into fists as he watched me. “Damn it, Owen! Is this it? Is there nothing you want to talk about? I swear if you plan on spending this weekend in silence take me back to my sister’s and get the hell out!” 

“I want an apology.” his voice was low and cold. There was no emotion in his eyes.   
I leaned away from him, confused. “For what?” 

“Back on that island you should have listened to me. You threw in my face that you were the boss. A room full of people and you spoke to me as if I was one of them. Is that what you always saw me as? We were always good at solving problems together. You pushed me away, Claire.” 

“How many times do I have to apologize for that? Do you understand the amount of stress I was under? Everyone on that island was my responsibility!” 

We were screaming at each other, tears streaming down both our faces.

“If you gave the order to evacuate the island like I said, those kids wouldn’t have wondered that far and they could have been brought in safely!”

“Oh,” I stepped towards Owen, my chest trembling from my sobs. “you blame me for it all!”

“If you didn’t want to control the situation and let me help you it could have turned out better! Being the control freak that you are finally came back to bite you in the ass.” 

“Fuck you, Owen!” I snapped and shoved by him, leaving the van. 

“Where are you going?” He stormed after me. 

“Away from you!” I yelled over my shoulder. Where I was going, I had no clue. The woods seemed like a better place than the van. 

“Oh no you don’t!” He growled and his fingers locked around my wrist. “You want to discuss things, you don’t get to walk away.” He yanked hard, making me turn back towards him. 

“What good am I if I stay?” I screamed, my voice carrying through the air around us and echoing off the trees. 

Owen clapped his hands to his temples, squeezing his eyes shut. “You’re everything, damn it!” His chest rising and falling as he panted. New tears falling down his cheeks. “I could have lost you and I’m not handling that very well. Every time I close my eyes I’m alone. You’re gone. Maisie is gone! We shouldn’t have had to risk our lives like that! I shouldn’t have been that close to losing my family.” He was sobbing now, his knees buckled as he struggled to stay upright. 

I could only stand, eyes gaping at my husband. Never in all our years together have I seen him break down like this. 

“I’m angry, Claire. I’m taking it out on you and it’s not fair!” 

I took an unsteady step in his direction and his eyes met mine. At the same time I reached for him his legs gave out and we both fell to our knees. We both let ourselves cry, holding tight to the other as if our lives depended on it. 

“I am sorry, Owen.” I whispered once we quieted our sobs. 

His arms tightened around me. “So am I.” 

We were silent, listening to the other’s breathing slowly go back to normal. It was then that I shivered, realizing the air was cold around us. I stood up and reached out for Owen. He took my hand and stood up. “Was that it?” He asked as we walked hand in hand back to the van. 

I shrugged. “Do you feel better?” 

He nodded. “I do actually. I mean I don’t think I’ll ever get over the guilt of not being able to protect you guys more than I did.”

“I know, I will always hold the guilt of the entire downfall of the island. But, Owen, we need to talk about this stuff. My family has a bad track record for failed marriages. I don’t want to join them.” 

“We may be going through some crazy shit right now, but there’s no way in hell I would let you go.” 

I smiled as he shut the door behind us. Turning to face him, I wrapped my arms around his neck. “As long as you’re willing to fight for us I will, too.” 

“Good thing we are both too stubborn to ever fail.” He dipped his head and brought his lips to mine. This kiss was different than the others we’ve shared since leaving the island. This was familiar. There was no tension behind it. 

Stumbling our way to the small bedroom, we tumbled together onto the bed. Moving slow, marveling in the other, getting lost in the love we were finally able to find hidden behind all our pent up anger. 

Laying under Owen his eyes met mine when I reached up to touch his face. His features were no longer tight. His eyes were bright again. I finally recognized the man in my arms.   
I smiled up at him, “Hey, stranger.” I whispered, letting my fingers trace the lines between his eyebrows, they were no longer visible. 

His smile mirrored mine and he kissed both corners of my mouth. “I missed that smile.” Once again we were lost in each other. My head spun with the happiness that whirled through me. 

The sun was setting by the time we could bare to pull away from the other. Laying in Owen’s arms, both of us exhausted. His fingertips trailed along my spine. My head on his chest, I closed my eyes while listening to his heartbeat slowly going back to normal. My stomach grumbled making us both laugh. “Should have eaten your sandwich.” He mumbled in my hair. 

“I believe it’s dinner time now.” I answered, lifting my head to look out the window. 

“I can start a fire and make some hot dogs.” 

“Sounds good,” I moved so I was laying on top of Owen, “but I don’t want to get up.” 

His hands gripped my hips, holding me against him. He wasn’t ready either. 

The sky was dark when Owen started the fire. I sat, wrapped in a blanket as I watched him work. In no time the red and orange flames lit up the night. 

My phone rang beside me and I was quick to answer. Maisie’s voice floated through the air as soon as I hit the speakerphone button. “Are you having fun?” She asked

“We are—“ 

Her excitement cut me off. “Mama, we went sleigh riding! It was so much fun. I don’t ever want the snow to go away! Then we got too cold and Aunt Karen made hot chocolate! She said you guys liked when Grandpa put marshmallows in it when you were little. She put some in mine and it was so good! I had two cups.” Her words all jumbled together as she spoke. I could picture her bouncing around as she told me about her day. “What are you doing?” 

“Daddy just started a fire and we are going to make some hot dogs.” I informed her.

“Fun!” She cheered. 

“I miss you,” I sighed into the phone. 

“Miss you guys, too! It’s so fun here. Aunt Karen is taking us ice skating tomorrow, so I have to go to bed.” 

“Ok, sweetie. Have fun.” 

“Goodnight, Mais.” Owen called out loud enough so she could hear him.

“Love you!” Maisie yelled back and hung up the phone. 

She was herself again. Finally able to be a kid. My sister was right. This is exactly what we all needed.

I closed my eyes listening to the silence of the night. Part of me longed to hear the sounds of the dinosaurs off in the distance. Many nights we spent outside around our fire pit listening to the faint sounds of them. It was Maisie and Owen’s favorite thing to do. 

“You miss them?” Owen asked. The look on my face must have given away my thoughts. He sat down next to me and I leaned into his side.

I nodded. “I miss the sounds.” 

He hummed in agreement. “I think Maisie will, too.” 

“Maybe we can find a place out in the woods. It wont be dinosaurs we hear, but I’m sure she would like the sounds of other animals around us.” 

“We can find it all right here.” He said motioning behind us towards the van. 

I sighed. “This is nice, but it’s temporary.” 

He shook his head. “I just want it to be the three of us for a while.” 

“I agree,” I turned my head to kiss his shoulder. “This is more than enough.” For now.


	25. Chapter 25

The sun was high in the sky when I woke up. Feeling the sheets beside me, Owen wasn’t there. 

I sat up and stretched. “Owen?” I called out when I noticed the van was too quiet. I moved across the van to look out the door. 

His back was to me. He stood by the edge of the lake, tossing stones into the water.   
I looked around quickly for my jacket, but settled on one of Owen’s sweatshirts thrown on the small couch. 

The cold air hit my face as soon as I stepped outside. 

“I was beginning to think you were going to sleep the whole day.” Owen spoke without turning around when I approached him. 

“It felt good to actually sleep.” 

He nodded. 

I stepped directly behind him, letting my fingers slide up his arms. He shivered and I smiled knowing it wasn’t the cold that made him do that. Taking one more step closed the space between us. My arms snaked around his waist and I kissed the back of his shoulder. 

He raised his arm and I ducked under it to be at his side. He rubbed my back as we looked out at the calm lake. 

“It’s so beautiful out here.” He sighed. 

“It is.” I agreed. “Wouldn’t it be nice to find property like this and build a house? Maisie would have tons of land to run around on. We could be away from the world in our own piece of paradise.” The image in my head made me smile. 

Owen shrugged. “We can find a different place each night that’s even better than the last. Why settle down when there’s so much to see.” 

I looked up at his face at the same time he looked at me. His eyes sparkled as his smile crept across his face. “I’ll show you! We’ll drive a little further today. We’ll find something even better than this place. You’ll see.” He said excitedly. I knew this tone well. He had his mind set on something and I was along for the ride whether I liked it or not. 

I laughed when he scooped me up into his arms. “I’m going to show you the world, Mrs. Grady.” 

I brought my lips to his. “I’ve already go it.” My whole world was Owen. Because he was so excited to take this time and travel with Maisie and I, I decided to give him his happiness. If this is what he needs then I will be there every step of the way. 

We walked back to the van and got ready for the day. Owen drove further along to find a new destination for us to spend the night. 

He reached over and took my hand in his, bringing the back of my hand to his lips. “I’ve been thinking of what your sister said before we left.” 

I glanced at him, confused. “What did she say?” 

“Let’s have another kid.” He spoke quickly, so I didn’t have a chance to cut him off. I snapped my mouth shut as I listened to him. “I know Maisie wasn’t technically planned, but there’s no way I would ever want to live one second in a world where she doesn’t exist. Between your work schedule and mine we never even discussed having another kid. We’ve got all the time in the world now, Claire. Let’s do it!” 

I could only shake my head, mouth gaping at him. 

He quickly took his eyes off he road to look at me and laughed at the expression on my face. “Come on, just think about it.”

“I have and I don’t know, Owen. Maisie is eight. I think the baby ship has sailed.” 

“Says who?” 

“Me!” I laughed. “You’re job making a baby is pretty easy. I have to do all the work for nine months. I just don’t think it’s a good time. We need to focus on Maisie right now.”

Owen was quiet for a moment. “Ok,” he sighed placing my hand on his leg and patted it. “I’ll give you this one, but only because you’re right about Maisie needing us.” 

I gave his leg a light squeeze and he jumped. “Doesn’t mean we can’t still do the fun part of making a baby.” 

With a growl he pulled the van over and threw it in park. 

“Owen—“ I started, looking out the window. Though this was a main road there weren’t many cars. His lips on mine made it difficult to finish my sentence. 

He unbuckled my seatbelt and pulled me out of my seat. “Here?” I shrieked when he yanked his shirt over his head. 

“Benefits of a traveling bed.” 

My cheeks flushed red at the thought of cars driving by or worse someone stopping to see if we broke down or needed help.

He reached for the hem of my shirt and I tried slapping his hands away. I couldn’t hide my heavy breathing though and he knew I didn’t really want him to stop. He fought against my hands and smiled at me before bringing his lips to my neck. I tilted my head to give him better access. 

“I’ve ripped shirts off of you before.” He mumbled against my skin. I couldn’t help but laugh. 

He brought his hands to my stomach, fisting the fabric of my shirt. “Your choice.” 

“I like this shirt.” I couldn’t hide the need in my voice anymore. I raised my arms over my head and he quickly moved his hands to grip the hem of my shirt again to lift it over my head. The rest of our clothes were shed in record time. 

His hands reached for my hips, palms warm against my skin, and lifted me onto the table. 

I wrapped my legs around his hips and threw my head back as I laughed. “Because the bed is too far away?” 

He hummed against my neck. “Way too far.” 

Owen leaned into me and I wrapped my arms around his neck. His lips pressed against my shoulder as he fought to catch his breath. 

There was a knock on the door and I shrieked, stiffening every muscle in my body. 

“Claire!” Owen hissed, sinking his teeth into my shoulder. 

“Sorry!” I gasped, letting my legs relax. 

“You guys need assistance?” I males voice spoke loud, knocking on the door again. 

“Not anymore!” Owen called over his shoulder. 

I hid my face against his chest to try and keep my laughing as quiet as I could. 

“Ok then!”

We listened as the footsteps disappeared and we could hear a car start up and pull away. 

I slapped Owen’s chest. “I told you this was a bad idea!” 

He stepped back, letting me slide off the table and search for my clothes.   
“It’s not like we haven’t done anything like this before!” He winked at me before pulling his pants on. 

“What are you talking about?” 

“Remember when you had to watch the screening of the new IMAX movie at the park? I do recall you were the one to instigate that little escapade.” 

I turned red at the memory. “We were in a dark theater and alone. This is out in the middle of a highway!” 

He shrugged. “I see no difference.” 

I smiled as I watched him climb back in the drivers seat. The tension between us was completely gone. I was falling in love all over again.


	26. Chapter 26

The final destination of our little weekend away was even more beautiful that the last. Though I would never admit it to Owen, he was right. 

There was a small waterfall we sat and listened to while the sun set. 

Taking advantage of our last night alone in the van we made our way from the front to the back, coming to rest in each other’s arms on the bed. We fell asleep in the same position we collapsed on the bed in.

“Ready to go get Maisie?” Owen asked sitting up and stretching. He got up and pulled on his pants. 

I shivered once he left my side and the lack of clothes. He smiled and threw a blanket over me. 

“I’m ready,” I wrapped the blanket around me and moved so I was on my knees. He stood at the foot of the bed and I crawled until I met him there. Opening the blanket to wrap us both in it, I kissed him lightly. His chest warm against mine. “But I’m going to miss this.” 

He slipped his arms around my waist and ducked his head to kiss my neck. “Me, too.” He mumbled against my skin. 

“We can’t do this while she’s sleeping so close.” I pointed out, hoping he would start to rethink wanting to travel for so long.

“We’ll make it work.” His voice was distant. He was concentrating more on kissing along my collarbone. 

I sat back on my ankles, slipping out of his hands and closed the blanket around me. “You’re so stubborn!” I huffed and got off the bed to get dressed. 

“What?” He asked, following me with his eyes. “What did I say?” 

“Nothing. Let’s just go get Maisie.” 

He watched me for a moment before moving to find his shirt. 

“Want to go out for breakfast before he head back?” He asked once I met him in the front. 

“Sure,” I sighed, leaning back in my seat. 

“Why the change in attitude?” 

“I don’t want to be in this van forever.” 

He didn’t have a reply. 

I can see this was something we were never going to agree on.

We pulled into my sister’s driveway and Maisie ran out to meet us. “Mommy!” She yelled as soon as I stepped out. 

“Hi!” I squealed, wrapping her tightly in my arms. “Did you have fun?” I asked her. 

She nodded, looking up at me and resting her chin on my stomach. “I missed you!” 

I leaned down to kiss her cheek. “Missed you more!” 

“There’s my girl!” Owen said as he walked around the front of the van. She screamed and ran into his open arms. He lifted her up and kissed both her cheeks. 

“I see smiles.” Karen pointed out as she approached us. 

Owen snaked his free arm that wasn’t holding Maisie around my waist. 

Karen grinned as she watched his motion. She nodded, satisfied with herself. 

I rolled my eyes, but couldn’t help but smile. 

“Come on, I made grilled cheese for lunch.” She motioned for us to go inside. 

I stepped away from Owen to meet my sister’s step. Linking my arm with hers I leaned into her. “Thank you for this weekend.” 

She nodded. “Glad it worked out for the best.” 

I couldn’t hide my giggle. “It did.” 

She laughed loud and watched me as I walked beside her. 

“What?” I asked, looking down to see if I had something on my clothes. 

She shook her head, a smirk spread across her face. “Just surprised you’re still walking normal.” 

It was Owen’s turn to throw a laughing fit. 

My cheeks flared red, and I shoved my sister which made both of them laugh even harder. 

I fell behind them as we walked up the stairs to the front door, suddenly very self conscious of the way I was walking.

We finished eating lunch and helped Maisie pack up her stuff. 

With a tearful goodbye Maisie hugged her cousins and aunt. 

Karen whispered something to Maisie and she smiled at her before giving a hard nod. 

We said our final goodbyes and climbed into the van. 

“Ok, Kiddo,” Owen turned in his seat to look at Maisie as she bounced on the small couch behind my seat. “Where to?” 

She stopped bouncing and looked at him confused. “What do you mean?” 

He laughed. “If you could go absolutely anywhere right now where would it be?” 

She bit her bottom lip. “Home?” 

Pain and guilt flashed in his eyes as he shook his head. “This right here is our home. We can take it anywhere you want to go.” 

She took a moment to rethink her answer. With a smile she looked from me to Owen. “The beach?”   
“Perfect answer, my child.” He started the van and backed out of the driveway. 

“But it’s cold and we don’t have bathing suites or any of my beach toys.” She pointed out.

He held up a finger to silence her. “Those are nothing we can’t buy, and it’s always warm in Florida!” 

“Florida?” Maisie and I repeated. We were days from that state. 

“Sunny, warm Florida!” He sighed and merged onto the highway. 

“Yay!” Maisie cheered and I leaned back in my seat to get comfortable. This was going to be a long drive. 

Most of the days ride was spent with Maisie giving us every detail of her weekend. My heart was bursting with warmth knowing she truly had a great time. She made Owen laugh when she mentioned Karen had told her she was a better ice skater than I was. Though figure skating was always something I enjoyed watching as a kid, I was never coordinated enough to actually stand on skates, let alone move in them. 

Finally finding a spot for the night, Owen and I tucked Maisie to bed and made our way quietly to the back of the van. I changed for bed and reached for a book as I settled in for the night. Owen reached under the blankets, slowing running his fingers up my thigh. “I don’t think so…” I smiled and slapped his hand away. 

He jutted out his bottom lip and I leaned down to kiss it. “There’s barely a wall between her and us.” 

“I can be quiet.” He said, moving his hand back to continue its traveling. 

I chuckled at that. “I find that hard to believe.” I laughed and swatted his hand away again.

“No fair.” He groaned and threw himself on his back. 

I shrugged. “Let’s get a house and you can have your way with me in the privacy of our own room.” 

“You’re a tough one.” He rolled on his side again to lean up and kiss my cheek. “I’m on to you, wife of mine. You want to play? I will get you to cave.” 

I let me book fall to my lap as I glared at his smug face. “You’re on, Husband.” 

He leaned in to kiss me and I turned my head just in time for his lips to come into contact with my cheek. 

“Ooh,” He laughed. “Playing dirty!” 

“I always win.” I warned him and picked up my book again. 

“We’ll see about that.”


	27. Chapter 27

It took us four days to get to Florida. Owen stopped at a few tourist attractions for Maisie on the way.

She was enjoying herself and that made me happy. She started a collection of small snow globes from each state we drove through. Owen found it to be a challenge for him. He was now determined to get her a snow globe from every state. 

“Hurry up, Mom!” Maisie yelled from just outside the small pocket door that separated mine and Owen’s bed from the rest of the van. 

I stared at myself in the small mirror beside the door. Maybe I was taking this little game Owen and I started a little too far. My black string bikini I picked up when we went beach supplies shopping was just covering what it needed to. This was way out of my comfort zone. Full piece suites are all I ever owned. If I could find the confidence to walk out of the van like this, Owen would be more than ready to buy a house. 

“Mommy!” Maisie started to open the door and I reached for one of the towels on the bed. 

“I’m coming.” I told her, holding the towel over my front. 

She threw me a confused look and turned to walk back out. 

I took a few deep breaths before tossing the towel aside and pulling my coverup over my head. It was just as revealing as my bikini. When I showed it to Maisie she said it looked like it was a dress made from a fishing net. 

I was glad the small campsite we settled at had it’s own beach. Since it was off season for vacationers, we basically had the beach to ourselves. This gave me the confidence I needed to step out of the van. 

Owen had his back towards me as he mumbled curse words at the buckets and toys, trying to get them all to fit in the bag. 

“Ready?” I asked, stepping behind him. Maisie took my hand and jumped excitedly. 

Owen stood straight, his arms full of beach toys as he turned to face me. “Yeah, as soon as I—“ There was a loud clatter as the toys in his hands fell to his feet. His eyes moved from my face down to the see-through coverup I wore, giving him a preview of the suite I had on. 

“That—“ He swallowed hard, bringing his hand up to motion at my outfit. “That’s not fair!” 

Got him! I smirked and moved my attention to Maisie. “Ready?” I asked her, ignoring Owen’s frozen stance. 

Maisie nodded and we stepped around Owen. I paused by his side, his hand just brushing against my outer thigh. “Hurry up with those toys.” I reached out and gave his butt a pinch as I walked away. 

“Oh, it’s on woman!” Owen called after me. 

Maisie and I chose a quiet spot to set up the large beach blanket. She helped me situate the towels and I slipped out of my flip flops. 

I found a spot on the blanket, motioning for Maisie to sit in front of me. Luckily she inherited Owen’s darker complexion and not my pale skin. She sat impatiently as I covered her arms and legs with sunscreen. 

“Done?” She asked as she scrunched her nose while I rubbed the lotion on her face. 

“Go on,” I laughed and leaned back on my hands as I watched her race towards the waves. 

Peeking over my shoulder I heard Owen struggling with the toys as he approached the blanket. “I really don’t think she needed every shape bucket the store had to offer.” He grumbled and let them fall on the blanket beside me. 

“I do recall you helping her choose them all for your perfect sandcastle.” I reminded him. 

He shrugged and pushed the toys away so he could sit beside me. 

“Lotion?” He asked, reaching for my sunblock. 

I couldn’t hide my smile. This was our normal beach routine, but this time I wasn’t wearing a suite that would drive him crazy. “Yes, please.” I said and lifted my coverup over my head. 

I heard him swallow hard as I shifted on the blanket to lay on my stomach. 

He started at my shoulders and I closed my eyes letting his touch relax me. It wasn’t until he was at the small of my back that I started to catch on to what he was doing. Every time his fingers came close to my suite bottom he made sure to just barely dip under it. “Owen,” I warned. 

He didn’t answer. He worked on the back of my legs and I yelped into the towel I was using as a pillow. His hands moved up my thigh and just grazed under my suit. He laughed at my reaction and his hands disappeared, causing me to whimper. 

I felt him lean over me, his lips at my ear. “I can play just as dirty.” He voice was deep, causing me to shiver. He jumped to his feet and shrugged out of his shirt. 

I picked up my head to watch him walk towards the water to where Maisie was laughing as the waves came up and her feet sunk into the sand. 

I sat up to finish putting lotion on the front of my body and got up to join them. 

For a moment we were a normal family. There was no sign of the fact that we fought for our lives days earlier. Maisie giggled as she clung to Owen’s arm, trying to stay standing from the waves that slammed into her. With Maisie between us we stepped a little further out. Jumping the waves was one of Maisie’s favorite beach activities. We went just far enough where Maisie couldn’t reach the bottom anymore. Owen held her in front of him while he jumped the waves. He moved Maisie, tucking her under one arm and reached for me with the other. The three of us moving to the waves until my legs felt like JELLO. 

“Maisie want to start working on your sandcastle?” I asked, slipping out from Owen’s grasp to start heading back to shore. 

“Yeah!” She cheered and Owen let her go. She swam over to me and Owen followed behind us. She swam ahead of us and Owen’s arms wrapped around my waist, his palms flat against my stomach. 

“You’re so beautiful.” He mumbled against my neck.   
I turned in his arms, the waved bumping him into me. “This is all you get until you give me a bedroom.” I reminded him.

“Oh, you’ll cave.” 

I shook my head. “I’m more stubborn than you are. Remember that.” 

“Come on!” Maisie called for us. 

I smiled and stretched up to kiss just under his chin. “Your daughter is waiting.” 

He took my hand and we walked over to where she was sorting through all her buckets and shovels.

I laid out on the blanket under the umbrella Owen set up. I closed my eyes, listening to them discuss the layout of their castle. 

We stayed on the beach until the sun set. Maisie and I were propped up against Owen as the sun dipped below the water. 

“This was the best day ever.” Maisie sighed after I tucked her in to bed. 

I laughed lightly and leaned down to kiss her forehead. “I agree.” 

She yawned and rolled onto her side, falling asleep quickly. 

When I stepped into our room, Owen was just getting out of the small shower. I bit my bottom lip as I watched him cross the small space to find clothes to put on. He had to squeeze between me and the bed to get by. 

Once he moved away from me I took my coverup off and tugged at the string on my back that held my top on. It fell to the floor and I caught Owen’s eyes as I turned my back on him and stepped out of the bottom of my suit. I turned around and chucked it at him before stepping into the shower. 

His unsteady laugh made me smile. I was still winning.


	28. Chapter 28

We stayed at the beach for a few days before Owen decided on our next stop. He had chosen another spot where bathing suites were a must. This time we were at a lake.   
The lake was private with a small cabin just off the shore. There was a dock out on the lake, a paddle boat sat on the rocks beside a canoe. Nothing but trees surrounded us, keeping us in what I felt like as our own piece of paradise. 

“Oh, Owen,” I gasped as we pulled up. 

“Like it?” His smile was wide, proud of his choice to stay here. 

“Look at that cabin! Are we staying in there?” I hated that I sounded more excited than I wanted to. He loved the van and I supported his desire to travel, but the scene in front of me was perfect. 

He nodded and got out of the van. Maisie was already out the door, running down to the dock. 

Owen met me around the front of the van, his eyes studying me closely. His arms reached out and I leaned into him. “This is ours for a week.” He informed me. 

I looked up and raised an eyebrow, my smile grew wider. “A week?” I repeated. 

“I know you’re getting cramped in the van. Here we can spread out a little.” 

I reached up on my toes and kissed him. “This is more than perfect. Thank you.” 

“Help me bring some stuff into the cabin and I’ll run into town for some groceries.” He said and leaned down to kiss me again. 

“I can go. Since we actually have a kitchen, I’ll make dinner.” I reached in his pocket and took out the keys.

He took them out of my hand and kissed my nose. “I’ll go. Just give me a list.” 

I leaned away from him to look at his face.

He sighed heavily and put the keys back in his pocket. “I don’t want you out there on your own. Your face is still plastered over every magazine on the newsstands.” 

“Ok,” I backed away “you go then.” 

“Maisie come help!” Owen called out to her. 

She got up from where she was sitting on the dock. 

We unloaded the van and Maisie was quick to claim one of the rooms. 

The cabin technically had two bedroom, but there was a sunroom that overlooked the lake which had a bed. The owners of the cabin had turned the sunroom into a beautiful bedroom. Windows lined the wall giving us a full view of the lake. 

“We’ll stay in here.” Owen said, coming up behind me. 

“I want to live here!” I said it as I thought the words, not meaning for them to come out. 

“We can always come back on our way back through the area sometime.”

I stayed silent in his arms, glad my back was to him so he didn’t see the disappointment on my face.   
Owen let his arms drop and he turned to go find Maisie. “Hey kiddo!” He called out for her. 

“I have a room again!” I heard her say when he found her. 

“Oh, you set up your snow globes!” He pointed out. I caught the surprise in his voice. He wasn’t expecting us to settle so quickly. 

The sunroom and two other bedrooms were separated by the large living room which was open to the kitchen. I silently crossed the living room to stand behind Owen. 

“Yeah,” She answered, jumping on the bed so she could see her collection. They were on a shelf just above the bed. “I can have them all out on display instead of having to keep them in a bag. I didn’t realize I had so many already!” 

“Make sure you don’t forget them when we leave.” 

“Can we stay longer? I think this is going to be my favorite spot.” 

He sighed heavily. “Are you and your mother having secret meetings or something?” 

“What?” She giggled. 

He shook his head. “Nothing, I’m going to the store. Stay here with mom.” 

He jumped slightly when he turned to see me standing there. “Sorry,” I chuckled. “Didn’t mean to scare you.” 

I handed him the list of items I wanted him to pick up. He took it, kissed me and headed for the door. 

“Mom, look what I found!” Maisie yelled, running into the living room and found me at the sink, washing the pots and pans I would need for dinner. 

I turned in her direction and she held a box in her hands. “What’s that?” 

“It’s Monopoly! Can we play after dinner? It’ll be like back home!” 

I couldn’t help the tears that welled up in my eyes. It seemed like a lifetime ago. Sunday nights were spent around the dining room table playing some sort of game. The number one rule was that neither Owen or I could talk about work. It was a time to be spent together. We mainly listened to Maisie’s stories she saved up through the week when we would be too busy to take a moment and sit down. 

I grabbed a towel and dried my hands. I reached out and took the box from her. “Yes,” I smiled down at her. “We can play.” I placed the box on the counter and she skipped back to her room. 

Owen walked through the door, placing bags on the counter. While he unpacked the bags and put food away, I went to work on dinner. 

Smiling down at the set table, Maisie in her seat swinging her legs as she waiting for one of us to serve her. An array of food laid out across the table… this was home. 

“That was good, Babe.” Owen sighed, leaning back in his chair and patting his stomach. 

I got up to grab his plate and kissed his cheek. “Glad you liked it.” 

Maisie quickly fell into our old routine. She helped Owen clear the table while I loaded the dishwasher and washed the dishes. Though this was always my least favorite chore of the day, I couldn’t help but smile all the way through it. Owen finally caught on to my mood and couldn’t help but smile himself. 

Maisie grabbed the game off the counter to show Owen. “Mom said we can play!” She told him excitedly. 

He took the game from her and placed it on the table. “Think she’s going to claim the banker role?” He asked her, opening the box to set up the game. 

Maisie giggled behind me as I put the last plate back in the cabinet. “She always does.” 

“Because you guys cheat!” I called over my shoulder. 

“I don’t cheat! You’re just a sore loser.” He chuckled lightly. 

The game ended the same way it always has. Me smiling as I claimed victory. Owen and Maisie shaking their heads at me. “Of course you win.” Owen chuckled. 

Maisie yawned and I ushered her into her room to get ready for bed, while Owen cleaned up the game. Her eyes were closed before I turned off the light. 

Owen was still sitting at the table when I came out of Maisie’s room. He was just finishing up putting the game pieces away. 

I crossed the room and stood behind him, throwing my arms over his shoulders and unbuttoned the top few buttons of his flannel shirt. He pushed back from the table as I moved around him and straddled his lap. 

Without a word, his lips claimed mine hungrily. His arms tightened around me as he stood up and kept me in his arms until we reached the bed. 

I made sure to pay attention to every inch of his body, his eagerness to take control was quickly shot down. I stayed in control until we were both laying on our backs panting. 

“That was…” Owen sighed heavily. 

“I know,” I sat up and leaned over to kiss him. “I win.” I said and got out of bed to find my clothes. 

“Excuse me?” He sat up and followed me with his eyes. 

I raised my hands to motion at the roof above our heads. “Is this a house?” 

He nodded.

“Is there more than a thin wall between us and Maisie?” 

He narrowed his eyes and nodded again.

I pulled my t-shirt over my head and walked back over to his side of the bed. “Then I win.” 

“No way! This isn’t our house, therefore I win.” 

I crawled onto the bed and curled into his side. “Face it, Owen. Your plan backfired. You did what I asked and I gave you what you deserved. Take it or leave it, but I win.” 

“So… we’re here for a week. Does this mean…” He trailed off when I nodded. 

“Sure you only want to stay a week?” I asked, raising an eyebrow.

“You’re impossible.” 

“You married me!” I laughed. 

“Yeah! Almost a decade later and I’m just now realizing what I got myself into.” He moved so he was on top of me, his hand slipping under my shirt.   
Even though I was exhausted I wanted to prove to him a house was better than the van.


	29. Chapter 29

The sun shone bright in the room. I sat up and stretched. Owen snored softly beside me and I leaned down to kiss his forehead before slipping quietly out of bed. 

The house was quiet and I smiled to myself. I missed these mornings. I would normally be the first one awake. Drinking my coffee out on the back patio as I listened to the dinosaurs on the island waking up. It was my favorite part of the day. No one nagging me for anything. Just me and the sounds of the animals. 

As quietly as I could I made a pot of coffee, making sure to place Owen’s mug beside the coffee maker. This was always part of our morning routine. I mainly put it here because he was always running into the kitchen already late for work. 

I snuck back in the room to grab my robe. Making it outside without waking anyone up, I curled up on one of the chairs on the deck by the lake. I watched a family of ducks cross the deck and jump into the lake. They swam in a line across the lake. 

It was almost an hour later I heard footsteps behind me. They were heavy on the loose rocks. I knew it was Owen. He leaned over the back of the chair to kiss my cheek before sitting in the one beside me. “Thanks for the coffee.” He said, raising the mug to his lips. 

I wondered if he had gotten the hint after seeing his mug by the coffee pot. “It’s so beautiful here.” I sighed and looked back out at the water.

“Wait until we go north. The mountains are just as beautiful.” 

I nodded. “They are.” 

By the tone of his voice I knew he was picking up on my little hints around the cabin. It wasn’t changing his mind at all. 

We were silent for a while. I wanted to tell him I didn’t want to get back in the van at the end of the week. This was too perfect. I knew he wasn’t ready to stay in one place, so I kept my mouth shut. There was no sense in starting an argument. Not when I felt so happy. 

“Morning!” Maisie called out as she ran towards us. 

“Hey, kiddo.” Owen opened his arms when she came around to where we were sitting. She wrapped her blanket around her before letting Owen lift her onto his lap. The three of us listened to the sounds of the birds chirping and an occasional croak of a frog. 

“Can we go out on the lake today?” Maisie asked. 

“Whatever you want to do.” Owen told her. 

“Daddy, can we have a house like this someday?” 

Knowing it would be difficult for him to deny her anything, I leaned on the arm of the chair waiting for his response. 

“Maybe someday.” He sighed. 

That was enough for Maisie and she slid off his lap and handed him her blanket. She made her way down by the water and threw in some rocks. 

Owen chuckled softly beside me as he watched her failed attempts to skip a rock across the water. “Here, kiddo. Let a pro show you.” He got up to join her. 

I watched him only get a rock to jump four times before sinking into the water. Looking around the edge of the deck I found a perfectly flat rock and I grabbed it. Stepping up behind Owen he turned to look up me. 

“Here, kiddo,” I mimicked his words. “let a pro show you.” I winked at Maisie and she giggled. With an easy flick of my wrist the rock jumped across the water. 

“One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight!” Maisie counted, her voice raising with excitement with each number. 

I turned to face Owen who was watching the water with wide-eyes and his mouth hanging open. 

“It’s all in the wrist, baby.” I reached up on my toes and kissed his chin. 

“Where the heck did you learn to do that?” 

“Took my dad an entire summer to teach my sister and I how to skip rocks. After that it was always a competition between us.” I shrugged. “I always won.” 

Owen rolled his eyes. “Doesn’t surprise me.” 

“Do it again!” Maisie handed me another rock. 

“What about me?” Owen asked her. 

She laughed and shook her head. “Mom does it better.” 

I threw the rock she gave me and she counted nine as she cheered beside me. 

“Ok,” Owen huffed behind me. 

I shrieked when my feet were swept out from under me. Owen had me cradled in his arms and I gripped his neck tightly. “How many times do you think she’ll skip?” He asked Maisie.

I looked into his eyes. “I’ll kill you.” 

“Do it!” Maisie chanted. 

I wrapped my fingers around my left wrist and locked them against his neck. “I go in, you’re coming with me.” 

He let my legs go and I stood up and smiled up at him. Before I could say anything I was in his arms again and tossed in the air. My hands frantically searched for something to grab. At the last possible second my fingers locked onto Owen’s wrist and he tumbled with me into the water. 

Though the air was warm, the morning sun didn’t have a chance to warm up the water, so it was cold. 

“Jerk!” I yelled when Owen reached for my hand. 

His laughter echoed across the lake. 

Maisie was on her knees laughing in a fit of hysterics. 

“Where you going?” Owen asked when I started to swim towards the dock. 

“Getting out of here. God knows what’s swimming around in here.” I shuddered from the thought. 

Something nipped the back of my leg and I screamed. 

“Like that?” Owen laughed, pinching my leg again. 

“When are you going to grow up?” I couldn’t hide my smile as I splashed him in the face. 

Just as I splashed him there was a bigger splash behind me. 

“Oh!” Maisie gasped. “It’s cold!” 

She shivered and Owen took her into his arms. 

They began to swim around and splash each other. I took the opportunity and snuck out of the water. I tossed my now drenched robe over the chair and grabbed the blanket Maisie brought out to cover myself. 

I stood and watched them play around for a few minutes until Owen looked over his shoulder to where he last saw me. 

“Claire?” Slight panic spread across his face as he looked around the water. 

Maisie giggled. “She snuck out!” She yelled, pointing at me. 

“I’m going to get you guys some towels.” I said and hurried inside to get warm. 

After having to coax them out with the promise of pancakes for breakfast, they slopped towards the cabin in their wet clothes. 

The rest of the day was spent dry in the paddle boat. Maisie and Owen continues their swimming once we were out further on the lake. 

The day ended with a campfire and once again, Maisie was asleep before her bedroom light was turned off. 

The week went by too fast. Maisie slumped back against the couch in the van as Owen pulled away. I tried to keep a positive attitude since she was giving Owen a hard time. He didn’t need it from both of us. 

“Where are we headed now?” Maisie mumbled her question.

“North.” He answered. 

“That’s it?” I asked. 

He shrugged. “Sit back and enjoy the ride.”


	30. Chapter 30

We drove for a few days before stopping at our next week long break from the van. Owen began to pick up a pattern. Maisie and I were happiest when we were in some sort of stable structure. I continued my rule of absolutely no intimacy until there was a thicker wall between us and Maisie.   
It was almost an entire day after we left the cabin in Florida, before Maisie spoke to Owen without a hint of an attitude. 

Soon the green grass and sandy beaches turned into snow. “What are we going to do in the snow?” Maisie wondered as she stared out the window behind the couch. 

“We’re almost there.” Owen informed her. 

I sat back in my seat and nibbled on my nail. I hated the snow. It’s cold and wet… and cold. 

We drove for a few more hours until Owen turned down a narrow side street. “Whoa.” both Maisie and I gasped at the same time. She slid off the couch and came to the front, climbing onto my lap. 

“What is this?” She wondered, leaning forward to get a better look out the front windshield. 

“It’s a ski resort.” I whispered and slowly turned my head to look at Owen. 

His smirk made me smile. “We’re staying in there… or…” I was almost too afraid to ask. 

He pointed towards the lodge. 

Maisie burst into cheers on my lap and I leaned over to kiss Owen. “Thank you.” 

“Told you this would be better than the cabin by the beach.” 

I shrugged. “I miss the warmth.” 

“Our suite has a fireplace.” 

I flashed him a crooked smile and raised an eyebrow. “I’m listening…” 

“We’re here for a week. I saw how much Maisie was enjoying the snow at your sister’s house and thought maybe some ski and snowboarding lessons would be fun for her.” 

“What’s that?” Maisie wondered, turning on my lap to face her father. 

Owen pulled into a parking spot and pointed towards the large ski slope behind the resort. “That.” 

“That’s a big hill.” She whispered. 

“It’s a mountain.” Owen chuckled. 

“I haven’t snowboarded since I was a teenager.” I pointed out. Not sure I trusted my abilities anymore. 

“It’s like riding a bike.” Owen shrugged. 

Maisie turned to look at me as we got out of the van. She took my hand, “Aunt Karen showed me pictures of you guys on a big board. Not those two small ones.” She pointed to a couple walking into the resort with their skis. 

“That’s because we used to snowboard. Your grandparent’s were the skiers.” 

“Oh. Can I snowboard, too?” 

Owen answered her before I could. “You’re going to try both.” 

“Oh!” Maisie jumped around excitedly. “What about you, Daddy?” 

He nodded. “I like both.” 

Though I was freezing, I was looking forward to this little adventure Owen set up. This was going to be something new we would experience together. In all the years we’ve been together I have never seen Owen in the snow or on skies. This was going to be a lot more fun than I thought. 

We checked in and Owen rushed towards our suite. “I saw this online, so I hope the pictures are just as nice as the real thing.” He took a deep breath and opened the door. 

“Oh, wow!” Maisie rushed into the large living room. The suite was set up like our own little log cabin. A fireplace, just like Owen promised was against the far wall. It was already lit and warming the room. The two bedrooms were on opposite sides on the living room which I was even more grateful for. The living room also opened up to the kitchen, a small breakfast bar separating the two. 

“Ok,” I sighed heavily and leaned into Owen’s side, wrapping my arms around his waist. “this is better than the cabin.” 

“Can I get that in writing?” 

I shook my head. “Nope.” 

“Can I set up my snow globes in my room?” Maisie asked excitedly as she rushed from her bedroom. 

Owen nodded, but I could see the sadness in his eyes. She was more happy outside of the van. “I’ll walk out with you and get some of the bags.” He took her hand and they walked out of the suite, leaving me alone. 

I wondered the large space that would be ours for the next seven days. Being on the road for almost a month since we left my sister’s felt more like a year. Making my way over to the large sliding glass doors, I opened it and stepped out onto our private patio. The sounds of shrieks and laughter coming from the families on the slopes made me smile. My eyes fell on a family of three. A mother and father with their young son. I watched the father as he attempted to try and teach the small boy to stand on his own with his skis. The mother excitedly cheered her son on and snapped pictures of every move their son made. 

I then spotted two young kids around Maisie’s age going down the other side of the mountain in a tube. They screamed and held onto each other as they sped down the hill. I let my eyes wonder across other families and couples and found myself wondering if any of them have ever visited Jurassic World before. 

The door opened and I spun around to help Owen and Maisie with the bags. “What do you ladies want to do first?” 

I took my bag from Owen and he followed me into the master bedroom. “Well, we need to get snow gear. I don’t think bathing suites would be a good fit in the snow.” 

“There’s a shop in the lobby.” Owen pointed out. He pulled the brochure out of his back pocket and skimmed over it. “There’s also free coffee and hot chocolate in the lobby.” 

“Bet Maisie would like some hot chocolate.” I remembered she mentioned Karen gave her some the way we used to have it as kids. 

Owen nodded and folded up the brochure before walking out of the bedroom to call for Maisie. 

Once each of us had the proper snow gear the three of us grabbed some hot chocolate to drink on our way back to the suite. 

“Can we go outside?” Maisie asked Owen and I. We were unpacking some of our bags when Maisie walked into the bedroom fully dressed in her snowsuit. 

Owen chuckled. “Well you’re already ready to go.” 

She nodded excitedly. “I was watching some kids snow tubing. Can we do it?” 

“I thought you’d never ask!” Owen quickly dropped the toiletry bag on the bed and hurried to pull on his snow pants. 

I followed his motion and met the two by the door. Owen and Maisie raced outside ahead of me. With the sun setting, the cold was getting to some guests who were out most of the day. Besides another family, we had the tube trail all to our selves. 

Once Maisie got more comfortable with the speed, she needed to go faster. “Want to race?” I asked her while we waited for Owen to make his way back up the hill. 

“Yes!” She cheered. She placed her tube on the ground and sat on it. 

I shook my head and pulled her off of it. She tilted her head, confused. “Running start.” I smiled. 

“Oh!” She gasped and followed my stance. We held the handles, keeping the tubes against the front of our bodies. 

“The Grady women up against each other? This isn’t going to end well.” Owen laughed when he caught up to us. 

“Ready?” I asked Maisie, ignoring Owen laughing behind us. 

“Ready!” She replied. 

“Ready, set… go!” Owen yelled and before I could start running his arm wound around my waist. “Go Maisie, go!” Owen yelled as she ran a few steps and threw herself onto her tube. 

“Owen!” I struggled to get out of his grasp. 

“Bout time you let someone else win.” He let me go and I spun around and shoved him hard. He tripped over his tube and we both tumbled to the ground. 

“You cheat.” I informed him. 

He rolled so his body was half on top of me and kissed me. “Hear that?” He asked and tilted his head towards where Maisie’s giggles were coming from. 

I smiled and wrapped my arm around his waist to keep him against me. “Best sound in the world.” 

He nodded and our lips met in a slow kiss, tasting the warmth of the other. 

“Hey!” Owen and I yelled at the same time when a snowball hit Owen’s shoulder, spraying snow in our faces. 

Maisie appeared over us, her laughter echoing off the mountain. “Come on!” She pulled my arm from Owen’s waist and tugged until I got to my feet. 

“For real this time.” I told Owen and he sighed, but agreed. 

This time when he yelled go, Maisie and I both ran and plopped down on our tubes. Reaching the bottom of the hill at the same time we agreed it was a tie. 

With the sun gone, I noticed Maisie shivering more and more. Owen noticed, too and we handed in our tubes and went to the lobby for another round of Hot chocolate before dinner.

**Author's Note:**

> Reviews are welcome! They keep me motivated. I write for fun and am not looking for criticism at this time. Just sharing stories I have stuck in my head lol. Thanks for reading and enjoy!


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